Voting in the ongoing Area Council elections across the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) recorded extremely low turnout in parts of Maitama on Saturday, as officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) appealed to residents to come out and cast their votes.

A visit by Patriotic Insights News to several polling units in the Maitama District revealed electoral officers seated and ready for accreditation and voting hours after the official start time.

At Polling Unit 144 on Gana Street, with 600 registered voters, no voter had arrived as of 9:02 a.m. The presiding officer noted that officials arrived around 8:10 a.m. but had yet to record any turnout. “Only two party agents came, and they have since left,” the officer said.

A similar situation was observed at Polling Unit 145, also on Gana Street, which has 575 registered voters. Officials reported no voter or party agent presence as of the time of filing this report. “We will wait and see. For now, there is no single voter,” one officer said at 9:28 a.m.

At Polling Unit 143, with 454 registered voters, officials completed their setup shortly after arrival but were still awaiting voters as of 10:35 a.m.

The trend continued at Polling Unit 1 near Lake Chad along IBB Boulevard, where 432 registered voters were expected. “We arrived early enough, but no single voter yet. We will wait till 2 p.m. and see what happens,” a presiding officer told Patriotic Insights News at 10:41 a.m.

Other polling units in Maitama, including those at Model Secondary School, Limpopo Crescent, and Aso Drive Roundabout, also recorded no voters by mid-morning.

The elections are being conducted across the six Area Councils of the FCT to elect chairmen and councillors, amid concerns over voter apathy and the enforcement of movement restrictions.