Chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Joash Amupitan, has cautioned staff of the commission against dereliction of duty ahead of the February 21 Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Area Council elections.

INEC revealed that it would hire a total of 1,132 vehicles from the transport unions ahead of Satur-day’s area council polls.

At the same time, stakeholders appealed to INEC not to sway to the whims of politicians during the area council elections.

Amupitan, who stated spoke in Abuja during an assessment visit and general meeting with FCT staff, described the election as a test case for the commission and an opportunity to restore public confidence in the electoral process.

The INEC boss, in a statement, charged staff of the FCT office to take full ownership of the forthcoming area council elections, warning that any act of dereliction would attract severe consequences.

He said, “You are the foot soldiers. The success of this election rests on how you perform your responsibilities.”

The chairman reminded personnel that “under the Electoral Act, 2022, there are clear consequences for misconduct, including faulty declaration of results”.

He said, “There is a saying in law that ignorance of the law is not an excuse. We need to let everyone know that there are consequences for dereliction of duty.”

Amupitan stressed the need for strict adherence to INEC regulations, proper deployment of technology, and transparent result management.

He also urged electoral officers to be proactive in addressing challenges at the polling unit level.

Amupitan identified punctuality as a key performance indicator for a successful election, directing that all polling units must be set up by 8am so that voting could commence by 8:30am as advertised.

“When you start on time, you close by 2:30 p.m., and results can be concluded before nightfall. That is the beginning of success,” he said.

Amupitan warned that any delays must be communicated to the commission promptly to ensure INEC remained the primary source of information in real time.

Earlier, FCT Resident Electoral Commissioner, Aminu Idris, provided an update on the state of preparedness for the area council elections, assuring the chairman that all non-sensitive materials have been deployed to the six area council offices.

He stated, “We have received all the non-sensitive materials, which have been moved to the area council offices.

“Training of staff commenced on 13th – 15th February 2026 and we are conducting additional training today to address the shortfall in turnout.”

Meanwhile, INEC revealed that it would hire a total of 1,132 vehicles from the transport unions ahead of Saturday’s FCT elections. Amupitan disclosed this in Abuja during a meeting with transport union leaders held at FCT INEC Office in Abuja.

He stated that the electoral body would not entertain any excuses from the transport unions, insisting that the services they would render must be in tandem with the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) they signed with INEC.

Amupitan said, “We are pleased to note that there is a partnership that has been existing for years between INEC and the two unions, especially as it relates to transport logistics. And of course, you know that your election can only be good as your logistics.”

The INEC chairman said the commission’s partnership with the unions showed that they were a critical stakeholder in the electoral process in ensuring free, fair and credible elections.

He, however, expressed concern over some challenges relating to logistics on election day, adding that the services provided by the unions during the Anambra State governorship election was a disaster.

Amupitan stated, “However, we have noticed some challenges in relation to transport logistics, and we are very concerned and worried. I will give you some of the examples, most especially at the last Anambra State Election.

“It was almost a disaster, because we were almost disappointed. The vehicles that were brought by the unions to transport sensitive materials from Enugu to Awka, we were not particularly happy because they were really non-serviceable vehicles.

“And at the last minute, we also found that some of your representatives could not meet up and even discovered that some of the vehicles were farmed out to others.

“And let me also say that we had to revert, in some cases, to Option B, which was having to rely on some vehicles that were brought from other states to be able to meet up.”

Amupitan added, “So this time around, we are talking of hiring about 1,132 vehicles from the two unions, and for an election that will feature about 570 candidates. For the chairmanship and vice chairmanship position, and about 62 or 68 councillorship positions. And you are talking about 2,822 polling units in the FCT, in the six area councils.

“We have emphasised to you in the morning that we don’t want to listen to any excuses. You know, there are some excuses that are genuine, but we don’t even want any excuse, whether genuine or non-genuine.”

He maintained that the target of the electoral body was for the election to commence by 8am.

Responding, Director, Legal, National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Mercy Ibeh, said most of the things mentioned by Amupitan were not strange to them, adding that issues like this usually form part of the discussion whenever they have a round table to sit and discuss.

NURTW Chairman, FCT, Abdullahi Dauda, said in any programme, there must be challenges, saying once challenges are identified, the next thing is to tackle them.

Nigerian Women Trust Fund said area council or local government elections were critical to a sustainable democratic system in any country.

Its Communication Manager, Mujidat Agbabiaka-Sholeye, said being the closest tier of government to the people, the conduct of the election must be carried out with utmost care, dedication to justice, fairness and accountability.

In his submission, legislative expert and public affairs analyst, Mr. Akinloye Oyeniyi, said judging by the outcome of the 2023 general election in the nation’s capital, ordinarily, one should be expecting a tough battle for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) due to various factors.

The State Security Service, SSS, has filed a three-count charge against former Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, over the alleged interception of a telephone conversation involving the National Security Adviser, NSA, Nuhu Ribadu.

The charges were filed on Monday at the Federal High Court, Abuja division, by counsel representing the SSS.

According to court documents sighted by reporters, the secret police accused Mr El-Rufai of unlawfully intercepting and recording a private telephone conversation allegedly belonging to Ribadu without authorisation, an action said to be contrary to national security laws and other relevant statutes.

The prosecution alleged that the offence was committed earlier this year and described the act as “a deliberate and unauthorised interference with protected communication channels.”

In one of the counts, the SSS claimed that the former governor “knowingly procured the interception of a classified communication” and thereby committed an offence punishable under the law.

Another count reportedly accused him of retaining and possibly disseminating the intercepted material.

Although the full details of the alleged interception were not immediately made public, a source within the security agency said the action was considered “a grave breach with potential implications for national security.”

“No individual, regardless of status, is above the law. The charges reflect the seriousness of tampering with secure communications,” the source stated.

The trial of former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Godwin Emefiele, resumed before a High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, yesterday with a prosecution witness, Mr. Richard Agulu, a former banker, testifying that he never received any money directly from the defendant.

The witness, who was hitherto a staff member of Zenith Bank Plc, but currently works at the Nigeria Communications Commission, NCC, told the court that he only had interactions with Emefiele’s Personal Assistant, Mr. Eric Ocheme.

“I never received a dime directly from the defendant. I received the funds through his personal assistant, Eric Ocheme,” the witness insisted while he was being cross-examined by Emefiele’s lawyer, Mr. Matthew Burkaa.

Asked to confirm that he never saw the defendant giving his PA any money to give to him, the witness, said: “My lord I have never seen that, but he passes instructions through phone calls through Ocheme for me.”

However, when he was shown an extrajudicial statement he made on the case, the witness admitted that he never mentioned that the defendants gave instructions through phone.

“I can not see anywhere I said phone, but I said it was by his instructions,” the witness added.

His extra-judicial statement was admitted in evidence and marked as Exhibit G.

Mr. Agulu who mounted the box as the third prosecution witness (PW-3), told the court that some of the transactions he referenced in his earlier testimony, were authenticated by the owners of Kelvito Integrated Services, Chukwuma Okpala and Ifeadigo Integrated Services, Peter Adebayo.

“It was with their instructions that the transaction was effected by the bank,” and the instructions were carried out by banking instruments, cheques.

“The defendant gives instructions to me through his personal assistant (Eric),” he stated.
According to the PW-3, the instructions he got through Ocheme were the banking instrument he worked on to carry out the transactions.

He said the instructions were not in the form of cheques, letters, email, or text.

The witness however admitted that going by CBN’s guidelines, as well as the operational manual policies of Zenith Bank, a staff member was only permitted to honour instructions an account holder gives through a formal communication, cheques, or the customer being present at the bank.

He stressed that neither Emefiele nor Ocheme was the account holder, a reason he said led him to include the owners’ names in the deposit slip anytime he deposited cash into their accounts.