{"id":27848,"date":"2026-02-21T09:10:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-21T08:10:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/?p=27848"},"modified":"2026-02-21T16:42:12","modified_gmt":"2026-02-21T15:42:12","slug":"live-fact-checks-fct-area-council-election-saturday-february-21-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/live-fact-checks-fct-area-council-election-saturday-february-21-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"LIVE FACT-CHECKS: FCT area council election- SATURDAY FEBRUARY 21, 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Residents of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) head out today, Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026, to elect local government chairmen and councillors for the six Local Government Areas (LGAs). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As elections hold across all polling units i<\/a>n the FCT, DUBAWA would provide accurate verdicts and context for assertions and claims made during the election to insulate the general public from mis- and disinformation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Claim 1<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CLAIM: X user shares letters, claiming<\/a> both APC and PDP candidates in Gwagwalada have withdrawn from the chairpersonship race. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

FINDINGS<\/strong>: The letters of resignation attached to the claim have multiple red flags. First, the content of the letters is exactly the same, except for the party logos and candidate names. The signatures and stamps are also the same. On Friday, the 20th, when two Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) candidates withdrew<\/a> in Bwari and AMAC, it was widely reported<\/a>. However, this user claimed the Gwagwalada withdrawal happened since Feb. 19, yet no news had been reported by any media outlets.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

VERDICT: False. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

SOURCES:<\/strong> Punch & <\/p>\n\n\n\n

DATE:<\/strong> 20\/02\/2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

FACT-CHECK AUTHOR:<\/strong>  Sunday Awosoro<\/p>\n\n\n\n

EDITORS: <\/strong>Lois Ugbede, Simbiat Bakare and Kemi Busari <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Claim 2<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CLAIM: An X user claims<\/a> voters can drive to their polling unit as long as they provide a PVC for identification.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

FINDINGS<\/strong>: The Federal Capital Territory Police Command had announced<\/a> a 12-hour movement restriction across FCT from 6:00 AM to 6:00 PM on Saturday, Feb. 21st, 2026. This applies to all residents<\/a> except essential service providers and duly accredited election officials. The announcement did not specifically exempt ID-carrying voters from the restriction. <\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

VERDICT: False.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

SOURCES:<\/strong> FCT Police & TVC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DATE:<\/strong> 21\/02\/2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

FACT-CHECK AUTHOR:<\/strong> Sunday Awosoro<\/p>\n\n\n\n

EDITORS: <\/strong>Lois Ugbede, Simbiat Bakare and Kemi Busari <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Claim 3<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CLAIM:\u00a0 X user claims<\/a> that an ADC agent was attacked by APC thugs in Abuja because he resisted an attempt to hijack a ballot box.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

FINDINGS<\/strong>: The spokesperson of the FCT Police Command, in a phone conversation, noted that there is no report of such an attack and violence in Abuja.  No election material was visible after close observation of the video. Also, no credible media organisation has reported the incident. <\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

VERDICT: False.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

SOURCES:<\/strong>  FCT Police Spokesperson<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DATE:<\/strong> 21\/02\/2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

FACT-CHECK AUTHOR:<\/strong>  Lademi Aborisade<\/p>\n\n\n\n

EDITORS: <\/strong>Lois Ugbede, Simbiat Bakare and Kemi Busari <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Residents of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) head out today, Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026, to elect local government chairmen and councillors for the six Local Government Areas (LGAs).  As elections hold across all polling units in the FCT, DUBAWA would provide accurate verdicts and context for assertions and claims made during the election to insulate the general public from mis- and disinformation. Claim 1 CLAIM: X user shares letters, claiming both APC and PDP candidates in Gwagwalada have withdrawn from the chairpersonship race.  FINDINGS: The letters of resignation attached to the claim have multiple red flags. First, the content of the letters is exactly the same, except for the party logos and candidate names. The signatures and stamps are also the same. On Friday, the 20th, when two Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) candidates withdrew in Bwari and AMAC, it was widely reported. However, this user claimed the Gwagwalada withdrawal happened since Feb. 19, yet no news had been reported by any media outlets. VERDICT: False.  SOURCES: Punch &  DATE: 20\/02\/2026. FACT-CHECK AUTHOR:  Sunday Awosoro EDITORS: Lois Ugbede, Simbiat Bakare and Kemi Busari  Claim 2 CLAIM: An X user claims voters can drive to their polling unit as long as they provide a PVC for identification. FINDINGS: The Federal Capital Territory Police Command had announced a 12-hour movement restriction across FCT from 6:00 AM to 6:00 PM on Saturday, Feb. 21st, 2026. This applies to all residents except essential service providers and duly accredited election officials. The announcement did not specifically exempt ID-carrying voters from the restriction.  VERDICT: False. SOURCES: FCT Police & TVC. DATE: 21\/02\/2026. FACT-CHECK AUTHOR: Sunday Awosoro EDITORS: Lois Ugbede, Simbiat Bakare and Kemi Busari  Claim 3 CLAIM:\u00a0 X user claims that an ADC agent was attacked by APC thugs in Abuja because he resisted an attempt to hijack a ballot box. FINDINGS: The spokesperson of the FCT Police Command, in a phone conversation, noted that there is no report of such an attack and violence in Abuja.  No election material was visible after close observation of the video. Also, no credible media organisation has reported the incident.  VERDICT: False. SOURCES:  FCT Police Spokesperson DATE: 21\/02\/2026. FACT-CHECK AUTHOR:  Lademi Aborisade EDITORS: Lois Ugbede, Simbiat Bakare and Kemi Busari <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":27857,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"hannibal_claim_source":"","hannibal_source_label":"","hannibal_card_color":"blue","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_wpscppro_dont_share_socialmedia":false,"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"default","_twitter_share_type":"default","_linkedin_share_type":"default","_pinterest_share_type":"default","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"default","_medium_share_type":"default","_threads_share_type":"default","_google_business_share_type":"default","_bluesky_share_type":"","_mastodon_share_type":"","_selected_social_profile":[],"_wpsp_enable_custom_social_template":false,"_wpsp_social_scheduling":{"enabled":false,"datetime":null,"platforms":[],"status":"template_only","dateOption":"today","timeOption":"now","customDays":"","customHours":"","customDate":"","customTime":"","schedulingType":"absolute"},"_wpsp_active_default_template":true},"categories":[3815,5,3812,3797],"tags":[],"verdict":[],"ppma_author":[873],"class_list":["post-27848","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-homepage","category-elections","category-headline","category-live-updates"],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8R6dE-7fa","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"authors":[{"term_id":873,"user_id":10,"is_guest":0,"slug":"dubawa","display_name":"Dubawa","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f70a877f6d81734de0ca299eabb33d20687f41f5a4cb83ae8d754fc9412ee293?s=96&r=g","author_category":"","user_url":"","last_name":"","first_name":"","job_title":"","description":"Strengthening Investigative Journalism for the fight against corruption in Nigeria."}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/image-49.png?fit=1600%2C900&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27848","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27848"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27848\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27876,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27848\/revisions\/27876"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27857"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27848"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27848"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27848"},{"taxonomy":"verdict","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/verdict?post=27848"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=27848"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}