The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has intensified preparations for the 2026 Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Area Council Elections, forging a stronger partnership with the media to counter fake news and ensure credible polls.
This was the focus of the INEC Forum for Media Executives, Producers, Reporters and On-Air Personalities, held in Abuja, where the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) for FCT, Malam Aminu Kasimu Idris, warned that elections are now contested not only at polling units but also in the information space.
According to the REC, fake news, doctored videos and unverified reports pose serious threats to public trust and can inflame tensions before, during and after elections. He said the forum was convened to deepen collaboration with the media, align expectations and reinforce professional standards in election coverage, particularly in the fast-paced digital environment.
Malam Idris disclosed that ward-level collection of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) was conducted from January 22 to January 26, 2026, while collection continues at INEC offices across the six Area Councils until February 10, 2026.
As part of measures to ensure a smooth election, he said INEC will conduct a mock voter accreditation exercise in 289 polling units across the six Area Councils to test-run election technologies ahead of the polls. Posters will be displayed at the affected polling units to guide voters.
In his opening remarks, the National Commissioner and Chairman of INEC’s Information and Voter Education Committee (IVEC), Malam Mohammed Kudu Haruna, said the Commission has acquired almost all non-sensitive materials, already batched according to the six Area Councils, 62 wards and 2,822 polling units.
He added that INEC is on track to print sensitive materials, including ballot papers and result sheets, possibly ahead of schedule. The materials, he said, will be received from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), FCT Branch, on February 18, in the presence of party agents, security agencies, civil society organisations and the media, ahead of the 8:30am commencement of polls on February 21.
Malam Haruna also announced that while the observers’ accreditation portal has closed, processing of field officers’ details is ongoing, while the media accreditation portal remains open until February 8. He urged media organisations yet to apply to do so promptly.
Delivering a goodwill message, the Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), FCT Council, Mrs Grace Ike, warned that elections are increasingly “won and lost in the information space,” noting that disinformation spreads faster than facts. She urged journalists to uphold accuracy, fairness and balance, while rejecting hate speech and political manipulation, and called for guarantees of safety for journalists covering the elections.
Representing the President of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR), Vice President Prof. Emmanuel Dandaura described the forum as a strategic effort to safeguard democracy, stressing that credibility must be effectively communicated to the public. He noted that every newsroom and broadcast studio now serves as a frontline of democratic engagement.
The Director of Voter Education and Publicity at INEC, Mrs Victoria Eta-Messi, said elections begin with information, not on Election Day. She explained that the forum was organised to clarify INEC’s processes, timelines, legal framework and deployment of technology, including the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IREV).
In a presentation on elections in the age of misinformation, the Chief Press Secretary to the INEC Chairman, Mr Adebayo Oketola, identified fake narratives, fabricated result sheets and coordinated online disinformation as emerging electoral threats, urging the media to act as a firewall against fake news.
Other presentations were made by the Head of ICT and Voter Registry, INEC FCT, Mr Festus Aisen, on election technologies; the Head of Legal Services, Mrs Rosemary Elachi, on the Electoral Act 2022; and the Head of Electoral Operations, Mrs Akin Thomas Folasade, who outlined voting procedures and safeguards against electoral fraud.
The forum concluded with an interactive session moderated by the Deputy Director of Publicity, INEC FCT, Mr Wilfred Ifogah, during which participants sought clarifications on election procedures, media accreditation and technology deployment, reinforcing shared commitment to credible and transparent elections in the FCT.
