FCT Decides: Over 1.5m PVC Holders Set for Polls as Campaign Noise Fades

By: Oluwaseun Lawal

The talking is over. The banners are coming down.

Now, it’s the voters turn.

The Independent National Electoral Commission says more than 1.5 million residents across the Federal Capital Territory have picked up their Permanent Voter Cards ahead of the February 21, 2026 area council elections. That’s a heavy turnout on paper.

Out of 1,680,315 registered voters in the FCT, 1,587,025 PVCs have been collected. About 94.4 per cent. Only 93,290 cards remain unclaimed. The numbers look impressive. Almost airtight.

Across the six area councils — Abuja Municipal, Bwari, Gwagwalada, Kuje, Abaji and Kwali — collection rates hovered in the mid to high 90s. Kuje even crossed 97 per cent. Some registration areas reportedly pushed past 99 per cent. Grassroots mobilisation, the commission called it.

Saturday’s vote will fill 68 seats in total. Six chairmen. Sixty-two councillors. Local offices, yes — but with very real impact on daily life in the capital.

Meanwhile, the Minister of the FCT, Nyesom Wike, has declared Friday a work-free day. Movement will also be restricted from 8pm Friday to 6pm Saturday, a move he said received approval from Bola Tinubu. The idea is simple: clear the roads. Let people travel. Vote without chaos.

INEC insists only registered voters with valid PVCs will be allowed to cast ballots. No card, no vote. Straight.

But politics in Abuja this week hasn’t been exactly straight lines.

In a surprise twist, the Peoples Democratic Party candidate for AMAC chairmanship, Zadna Dantani, stepped down and threw his weight behind the APC candidate. Less than 24 hours earlier, the PDP candidate in Bwari had done same. Both moves reportedly followed consultations involving Wike. Brotherhood election, Dantani called it.

Not everyone agrees with that framing.

Adewole Adebayo, the 2023 presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party, told supporters in Apo that no single political figure can decide the outcome. “Government will come and go,” he said, urging residents to vote their conscience.

So here we are.

Campaigns done. Streets quieter. Security on alert.

And more than 1.5 million people holding small plastic cards that suddenly feel very powerful.

Saturday will tell the rest.