The Electoral Hub has called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to position the ongoing FCT area council election as a critical reference point for strengthening grassroots electoral governance nationwide.
Its Director, Hamman-Obels, made the call in a statement issued in Abuja on Saturday.
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Ms Hamman-Obels urged all stakeholders, including political parties, candidates, civil society organisations, security agencies and voters to commit to a credible, transparent and peaceful process.
She described the FCT area council election as uniquely significant, noting that it is the only local government election in the country conducted by INEC, unlike in the 36 states where State Independent Electoral Commissions (SIECs) oversee council polls.
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According to the group, this distinctive status places the FCT election under heightened domestic and international scrutiny and positions it as a critical reference point for strengthening grassroots electoral governance nationwide.
“This election receives significant attention and scrutiny from both domestic and international observers, who view it as an indicator of INEC’s commitment to electoral integrity at the grassroots level and as a model for subnational elections throughout the country.
“Notably, the 2026 FCT Area Council Election marks a historic first with the deployment of INEC’s Electronic Collation System (E-Collation), which uses the electronic EC88A form to collate and transmit election results.
“This is the first time this system is being deployed for the election conduct, representing a significant step forward in leveraging technology to strengthen the integrity and transparency of the results management process.”
The director highlighted that the 2026 election marked the first deployment of INEC’s Electronic Collation System (E-Collation) for Area Council polls, describing it as a significant step toward strengthening transparency in results management.
According to her, the new system used the electronic EC88A form to collate and transmit results.
Ms Hamman-Obels said that INEC indicated that uploads would only be permitted when both electronic and manual tallies correspond.
She said that the newly introduced software would also detect discrepancies between scanned results and entered figures, blocking uploads where accredited voter numbers do not match.
She said the Electoral Hub welcomed the innovation, urging INEC to ensure robust technical backup, transparency, and open scrutiny by party agents, observers and citizens throughout the process.
She said as an accredited observer group, The Electoral Hub deploys 53 observers across the FCT’s six area councils to monitor pre-election, election-day and post-election activities.
The director said that the observation would assess compliance with the legal framework, registration area centre preparations, security presence, participation of youth, women and persons with disabilities.
She added that it would also assess the performance of ad hoc staff, incidents of vote trading or violence, and the collation and declaration of results.
Ms Hamman-Obels explained that the group’s observation was anchored on an electoral accountability framework that recognised elections as complex processes influenced by social, political and economic variables.
She emphasised that while the electoral management body played a central role, responsibility for credible elections also rested with the legislature, executive, judiciary, political parties, candidates and security agencies.
According to her, The Electoral Hub expects that INEC will ensure transparency, accountability and strict adherence to guidelines, with prompt investigation and sanctioning of any misconduct.
She said that law enforcement agencies should maintain neutrality and provide adequate protection to voters across all six area councils.
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She urged winners to promote unity and inclusive governance, prioritising economic growth, healthcare, education and infrastructure.
She called on stakeholders to conduct the election without malpractice, ensuring access for vulnerable groups such as nursing mothers, the elderly and persons with disabilities.
Ms Hamman-Obels urged that the outcome should reflect the genuine choice of the electorate, in line with constitutional and international human rights provisions.
(NAN)
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