JUST-IN: INEC Fixes February 21, 2026 for FCT Area Council Polls

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has announced that the elections for the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Area Councils will take place on February 21, 2026.

INEC Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, made the announcement at the first regular consultative meeting with political parties at the Commission’s headquarters in Abuja on Wednesday.

Yakubu confirmed that the elections will be held across the 68 constituencies in the FCT, where voters will elect the six Area Council Chairmen and 62 Councilors. The last election for the Area Councils was held on February 12, 2022, and the current tenure of the Chairmen and Councilors will expire next year.

He explained that in compliance with legal requirements, the notice for the election will be published on February 26, 2025. The party primaries are scheduled to run from June 9 – 30, 2025, and the nomination portal for candidates will open on July 21, 2025, closing on August 11, 2025. The final list of candidates will be published on September 22, 2025. Political parties will be allowed to commence their public campaigns on September 24, 2025, and must conclude by midnight, February 19, 2026.

Yakubu also informed the attendees that the detailed Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the election, along with the list of constituencies and election types in the FCT, will be uploaded on the INEC website before the end of the meeting. Hardcopies of these documents, as well as the Regulation and Guidelines for Political Parties 2022, have been included in the meeting folders for reference.

For further information, the softcopy of the regulations and guidelines is already available on the INEC website: www.inecnigeria.org.