Abuja: Yiaga Africa has reported generally peaceful conduct of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Area Council elections, but expressed concerns over the late commencement of voting, logistical lapses, and low voter turnout.
Samson Itodo, Executive Director of Yiaga Africa, announced this at a news conference on Saturday in Abuja.
He stated that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) conducted elections for chairmanship positions in the six Area Councils and 62 councillorship seats.
He explained that Yiaga Africa trained and accredited roving observers, who were then deployed to monitor activities across polling units in the territory’s 62 wards.
“Observers arrived as early as 7:30 a.m. to assess opening procedures, accreditation, voting and counting processes.”
The civic society organisation stated its Watching the Vote (WTV) preliminary assessment relied on real-time reports from observers and focused strictly on process observation, noting that Yiaga Africa did not deploy a Parallel Vote Tabulation for the election.
According to Yiaga Africa, the elections were largely peaceful, allowing voters to cast their ballots without widespread disruption.
However, the Turnout in Africa observed that voter turnout was low in most polling units, which the group identified as a significant concern. Identified logistical challenges that affected the timely opening of polling units, particularly in the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC).
In areas such as Wuse and Gwarinpa, several polling units reportedly opened well behind schedule. Officials were still arranging materials as of 9:00 a.m. Accreditation and voting in many locations began around 10:00 a.m., which was contrary to electoral guidelines.
Observers noted some material deployment gaps. Key items, such as BVAS machines and registers, arrived at most units.
Some locations lacked voter registers and voting cubicles, causing delays.
Yiaga Africa also highlighted the issue of voters being reassigned to newly created polling units without sufficient advance notice, which it identified as a key concern for election credibility and voter experience. reportedly sent SMS notifications, many voters received the messages on election day, leading to confusion, prolonged searches for polling units and congestion at some centres.
These administrative shortcomings, Yiaga Africa noted, contributed to voter confusion, potentially discouraged participation, and undermined trust in electoral processes. observers noted that some polling units closed before the official 2:30 p.m. deadline despite guidelines requiring units to remain open until the last voter in the queue had voted.”
Yiaga urged INEC to consider extending voting hours in affected areas to prevent disenfranchisement and to ensure strict adherence to transparency measures.
Yiaga Africa added that INEC should post polling unit results and electronically transmit result sheets to the INEC Result Viewing portal and collation centres.
The organisation also advised the commission to intensify voter education on polling unit changes, communicate with the public in a timely manner, and collaborate with stakeholders to minimise confusion in future elections.
Security agencies were urged to maintain professionalism and neutrality, particularly during the collation process, while political parties and supporters were called upon to avoid actions that could disrupt the electoral process.
“Our observers would continue monitoring the ward and Area Council collation centres and the INEC results portal to assess the integrity of the results management process.
They urged all parties to ensure a peaceful, credible conclusion to the election.
Itodo reaffirmed that the organisation will provide credible, data-driven information throughout the electoral process.
