The Independent National Electoral Commission has released and presented the revised Register of Voters for the Federal Capital Territory ahead of the February 21, 2026 Area Council Election, with the total number of registered voters now standing at 1,680,315, Dip Connect Online News reports.
This was disclosed in a statement issued on Wednesday by INEC’s Director of Voter Education and Publicity, Mrs. Victoria Eta-Messi.
According to the statement, the presentation took place in Abuja during a stakeholders’ meeting with political parties, where the Resident Electoral Commissioner for the FCT, Malam Aminu Idris, described the exercise as a key constitutional requirement in the Commission’s preparations for the polls.
Idris recalled that INEC resumed the nationwide Continuous Voter Registration exercise on August 18, 2025, starting with online pre-registration, followed by physical registration nationwide from September 29, 2025.
He explained that, in line with Section 9(6) of the Electoral Act, 2022, the CVR was suspended in the FCT on October 12, 2025, to allow for the revision of the Register of Voters ahead of the Area Council Election.
“The revision process, carried out pursuant to Section 10(6) of the Electoral Act, involved biometric de-duplication of the register, its display for claims and objections, and the compilation of a supplementary list arising from the exercise,” he said.
He added that the revised register now supersedes all previous registers.
Idris disclosed that the total number of registered voters in the FCT increased from 1,570,307 in 2023 to 1,680,315, noting that detailed statistics were made available to political parties at the meeting.
He also briefed stakeholders on INEC’s preparedness for the February 21, 2026 Area Council Election, which will fill 62 councillorship seats and six chairmanship positions across the FCT.
According to him, activities already completed by the Commission include monitoring of party primaries, publication of final lists of candidates, commencement of campaign monitoring, receipt of non-sensitive materials, activation of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, voter education and sensitisation, stakeholder engagement, and collaboration with security agencies through the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security.
The REC urged political parties and candidates to maintain the prevailing peaceful atmosphere in the FCT and intensify voter mobilisation ahead of the election.
He further announced that Permanent Voter Cards for newly registered voters, as well as those who applied for transfer or updates during the CVR exercise, have been delivered to the FCT, adding that the Commission will announce the date for PVC collection in due course.
In a related development, INEC has resumed the Continuous Voter Registration exercise in Anambra State.
The CVR in Anambra was suspended on July 20, 2025, to allow the Commission to clean up the voters’ register and produce and distribute Permanent Voter Cards ahead of the November 8, 2025 governorship election.
The resumption of the exercise at the Anambra State office and the 21 Local Government Area offices will enable eligible voters to register, update their records, apply for replacement of lost or damaged PVCs, and transfer their voting locations ahead of the 2027 General Election.
Elijah Adeyemi
