The Public and Private Development Centre (PPDC) and the Bridging Social Inclusion Gaps Initiative (BISIGI) have expressed concerns over the drawbacks, including the delays, technical hitches and voter apathy witnessed during the last Saturday’s Federal Capital Territory (FCT) area council elections.
The two leading organisations said at a media conference in Abuja that the lapses undermined public confidence in the process and undermined the credibility of the exercise.
At the post-election conference, the PPDC’s Chief Executive Officer, Lucy James Abagi, and her BISIGI Africa counterpart, Tina Chidi, said their accredited observers were deployed to more than 50 polling units (PUs) across all six Area Councils – Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), Abaji, Bwari, Gwagwalada, Kuje and Kwali – cutting across urban, peri-urban and rural communities.
While commending voters who turned out and acknowledging election officials and security personnel for maintaining relative peace, the observers painted a troubling picture of low participation and systemic inefficiencies.
According to them, voter turnout was strikingly poor in about 60 per cent of the polling units monitored, with participation in many locations hovering between 10 and 15 per cent of registered voters by midday.
They said that the cut across socio-economic lines, from highbrow districts such as Garki, Wuse and Gwarinpa in AMAC to rural communities in Abaji and other councils.
In urban centres, particularly within AMAC, the observers linked the low turnout to growing voter apathy, distrust in electoral outcomes and disillusionment with local governance.
“In several PUs, voters reportedly abandoned the process due to delayed commencement of voting, technical glitches with the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), and confusion stemming from changes to previously assigned polling units.
“Peace alone does not guarantee electoral credibility. The quality of participation, operational efficiency and integrity safeguards are equally critical to democratic legitimacy,” Abagi said.
The groups said that at least 40 per cent of observed PUs failed to commence voting at the official 8:30 a.m. start time.
“In some instances, accreditation and voting did not begin until close to midday. The delays were attributed to late arrival of officials, delayed delivery of sensitive materials, the use of polling units as distribution hubs, and, in certain cases, waiting for security personnel before setting up, “the groups said.
They also said that such delays disproportionately discouraged early voters, especially women, elderly citizens and working-class residents who could not afford to wait for hours.
They said, “Technical performance of BVAS devices was also inconsistent. While some units recorded smooth accreditation, about 40 per cent experienced challenges, including poor network connectivity and battery failures due to lack of backup power. In several cases, accreditation was suspended for extended periods, prompting frustrated voters to leave.”
The PPDC and BISIGI Africa also criticised the inefficient deployment of public resources.
They cited Hajo Ventures Polling Unit 065 in City Centre (Area Code 01, AMAC), where only one registered voter was listed, yet a full complement of election officials, security personnel and materials was deployed.
“Similarly, City Centre Polling Units 134, 135 and 137 recorded just 40, 21 and 27 registered voters respectively. Maintaining fully staffed and equipped polling units for such minimal voter populations, the groups argued, represents a waste of personnel allowances, logistics, security deployment and electoral materials,” they added.
They, however, welcomed recent clarifications under Sections 12(1)(d) and 12(2) of the Electoral Act recognising the rights of inmates to register and vote, describing the move as progressive for electoral inclusion.
They urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to urgently develop a comprehensive operational framework covering inmate accreditation, security arrangements, result management and coordination with correctional facilities, in consultation with civil society.
To strengthen transparency and public trust, PPDC and BISIGI Africa called on INEC to mandate the physical display of final polling unit results immediately after counting, ensure prompt uploads to the IReV portal, and publish detailed ward-by-ward results complete with polling unit codes.
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