President Bola Tinubu has appealed for restraint and orderly conduct ahead of Saturday’s elections in the Federal Capital Territory, Rivers and Kano states, in what will be the first significant test of the newly signed Electoral Act 2026.
In a statement issued on Friday by his special adviser on information and strategy, Bayo Onanuga, Tinubu urged voters, security agencies and officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to ensure the polls are conducted in a peaceful atmosphere.
The elections, scheduled for 21 February, come only days after the president assented to the Electoral Act 2026, legislation that has already stirred debate over its hybrid system of electronic and manual result transmission.
“Fellow Nigerians, I assure you that the federal government under my administration will continue to support institutions responsible for delivering free, fair and credible elections,” Tinubu said. He called on eligible voters to turn out “without fear”, stressing that democracy flourishes best in conditions of calm, tolerance and mutual respect.
The president also cautioned political parties, candidates and supporters against violence or inflammatory rhetoric, warning against intimidation or actions capable of disenfranchising voters. Security personnel, he said, were deployed to protect lives and the integrity of the ballot rather than to interfere in the process.
INEC is set to conduct elections across the six area councils of the Federal Capital Territory, involving more than 1.6 million registered voters across 2,822 polling units. Bye-elections will also take place in Rivers and Kano states to fill legislative vacancies.
In Rivers state, polls will hold in the Ahoada East II and Khana II constituencies following the resignation and death of sitting lawmakers. In Kano state, elections are scheduled in Kano Municipal and Ungogo constituencies after the deaths of two members of the state house of assembly.
The new law formally codifies the use of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and provides for the electronic transmission of results to INEC’s result viewing portal, while retaining manual collation as a fallback in areas with poor network coverage. It allows the commission to rely on manually completed Form EC8A as the primary basis for collation and declaration where electronic transmission is disrupted.
INEC’s chair, Professor Joash Amupitan, said preparations were largely complete, including the deployment of non-sensitive materials, the training of electoral and security personnel, and the configuration of BVAS devices. The commission has accredited 83 domestic and five foreign observer groups to monitor the polls.
In the capital, the FCT minister, Nyesom Wike, has imposed movement restrictions from 8pm on 20 February to 6pm on election day, a measure authorities say is intended to safeguard the integrity of the vote.
For Tinubu’s administration, the elections will serve as an early gauge of public confidence in the reformed legal framework – and in the promise that the will of the electorate, rather than technical failure or political interference, will ultimately prevail.
