The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has lamented over the low turnout in some polling units in the ongoing Area Council Elections.

Wike shared his disappointment while touring some polling units and interacting with electoral officials.

At a polling unit in Karshi, the minister met a few electoral officials, but there were no voters.

After exchanging pleasantries, Wike asked: ”How is the turnout?”, to which the ad-hoc official, a member of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), said: ”We have only about 10 per cent of registered voters who came out to vote.”

The Minister further asked: ”Only 10 percent? When are you supposed to start counting?”

”By 2:30pm, sir,” the corps member responded, to which Wike said: ”Hopefully, there will be another 20 per cent.”

The African Democratic Congress (ADC) candidate in Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), Moses Paul, had earlier blamed the low turnout on the restriction of movement.

He said the turnout was far lower than expected and attributed it to what he described as confusion created by the restriction directive.

He said he had lived in AMAC for about 40 years and had never witnessed such a situation, noting that the development appeared like “a state of emergency” over what he considered unwarranted.

The Lagos State chapter of the All Progressives Congress, APC, has faulted the backlash that followed President Bola Tinubu’s assent to the Electoral Act 2026, describing the criticism as politically motivated and disconnected from the country’s national interest.

In a statement issued on Thursday by the party’s spokesperson, Mogaji Seye Oladejo, the Lagos APC said it observed with “undisguised disappointment” what it characterised as an orchestrated outcry by sections of the opposition over the President’s approval of the amended law.

The party maintained that governance is a constitutional duty that must be exercised with prudence and responsibility, not shaped by popularity contests, social media pressure or political theatrics.

Opposition groups had expressed reservations about provisions of the amended Act, particularly those relating to the transmission of election results, arguing that the law does not guarantee real-time electronic transmission.

However, the Lagos APC rejected what it called a “romanticised and misleading narrative” surrounding real-time transmission models.

According to the party, experiences from other democracies that adopted similar systems revealed significant challenges, including technological failures, cybersecurity risks, legal uncertainties and judicial reversals.

It warned against prioritising political convenience over the long-term integrity of electoral institutions.

The APC also questioned the assumption that opposition parties possess superior insight into electoral reform, stressing that reform is not the “intellectual property” of any political bloc.

“The idea that electoral reform wisdom resides exclusively with the opposition is flawed,” the statement said, adding that President Tinubu’s assent followed due constitutional process, extensive legislative debate and institutional consultations.

The party described the President’s action as an exercise of prudence rather than panic, insisting that reforms must be “thoughtful, sustainable and legally defensible, not reactionary or driven by social media pressure.”

While acknowledging the importance of opposition in a democratic system, the Lagos APC cautioned against what it described as the weaponisation of public sentiment and melodramatic distortions of policy decisions.

“Democracy thrives on credibility and institutional durability, not noise,” the party said. “Electoral integrity cannot be built on fragile systems designed more for headlines than long-term stability.”

The APC added that Nigeria deserves reforms that strengthen democratic institutions without exposing them to avoidable constitutional, legal and logistical risks, especially given existing infrastructural challenges across the country.