Adebayo Urges Abuja Voters to Thwart Rigging in Upcoming Council Polls
With the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) area council elections scheduled for Saturday, former Social Democratic Party presidential candidate Prince Adewole Adebayo has called on residents to take decisive action to safeguard the vote. Speaking in Bwari, Abuja, on Wednesday, Adebayo stressed that preventing electoral manipulation rests primarily with the electorate, not external figures.
Adebayo advised residents to thoroughly familiarize themselves with the candidates and their platforms to foster accountability. He argued that engaging, popular candidates would naturally motivate higher voter turnout, which is critical for transparency. “The first way to checkmate rigging is to make sure you bring a candidate that people will like so people will have interest in the election,” he stated.
He highlighted the streamlined, three-tier structure of area council elections—polling unit, ward, and council—as a practical advantage for monitoring results. “Once they come out en masse, they will come and vote, and they will wait to see that the vote counts,” Adebayo said, adding that the outcome is ultimately for residents, not the incumbent FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, to determine.
SDP’s candidate for Bwari Area Council, Abubakar Abdullahi, echoed the sentiment, emphasizing that democratic governance must reflect the people’s will and be inclusive. “Government that belongs to everybody, not what we are having today,” he remarked.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has confirmed February 21, 2026, as the official date for the FCT area council polls. These local government elections are considered a crucial test of electoral integrity and citizen engagement in the capital territory, serving as a direct barometer for grassroots political participation ahead of future national polls. Observers note that the turnout and conduct will signal the strength of democratic institutions at the sub-national level.
