{"id":195822,"date":"2026-02-22T11:58:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-22T10:58:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/uncategorized\/fct-election-ramadan-linked-to-low-turnout-voter-apathy"},"modified":"2026-02-22T13:07:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-22T12:07:08","slug":"fct-election-ramadan-linked-to-low-turnout-voter-apathy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/fct-election-ramadan-linked-to-low-turnout-voter-apathy","title":{"rendered":"FCT Election Ramadan Linked to Low Turnout Voter Apathy"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600\"><strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Nigeria. <\/strong><\/span>A former media aide to late President Muhammadu Buhari, Bashir Ahmad, has attributed voter apathy in the recently concluded Federal Capital Territory, FCT, council elections to the timing of the exercise during the holy month of Ramadan.<\/p>\n<p>Ahmad noted that Ramadan is typically marked by adjusted daily routines, reduced physical movement during fasting hours, and increased focus on spiritual activities.<\/p>\n<p>According to him, these factors significantly affected voter turnout across several polling units.<\/p>\n<p>He said the development has prompted stakeholders and observers to call on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to review the dates already announced for next year\u2019s general elections, which are also scheduled to take place during Ramadan.<\/p>\n<p>Of particular concern, he said, is the scheduling of the governorship and State and National Assembly elections just two days before Eid el-Fitr, a period traditionally devoted to intense preparations, travel, family engagements, and heightened economic activities ahead of the celebration.<\/p>\n<p>While emphasizing that civic responsibility remains paramount regardless of timing, Ahmad stressed that election scheduling sensitive to major religious observances could help boost voter turnout, inclusivity, and broader democratic participation.<\/p>\n<p>Posting on X, he wrote: \u201cOne of the major factors that contributed to voter apathy in the just concluded FCT council elections was the timing within the holy month of Ramadan.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor many residents, Ramadan comes with adjusted daily routines, reduced physical movement during fasting hours and increased focus on spiritual commitments.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese realities, understandably, affected turnout across several polling units.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is why many stakeholders and observers are urging INEC to thoughtfully review the dates already announced for next year\u2019s general elections, which will also fall within the Ramadan period.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOf particular concern is the scheduling of the governorship and State\/National Assembly elections just two days before Eid el-Fitr, a time traditionally dedicated to intense preparation, travel, family engagements and economic activities ahead of the celebration.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhile civic responsibility remains paramount regardless of timing, election scheduling that is sensitive to major religious observances could significantly enhance voter turnout, inclusivity and overall democratic participation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>For More News And Analysis About <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Nigeria<\/span> Follow <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; Nigeria. A former media aide to late President Muhammadu Buhari, Bashir Ahmad, has attributed voter apathy in the recently concluded Federal Capital Territory, FCT, council elections to the timing of the exercise during the holy month of Ramadan. Ahmad noted that Ramadan is typically marked by adjusted daily routines, reduced physical movement during [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":195821,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,14],"tags":[254],"class_list":["post-195822","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-nigeria"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>FCT Election Ramadan Linked to Low Turnout Voter Apathy - Nigeria<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A former media aide to late President Muhammadu Buhari, Bashir Ahmad, has attributed voter apathy in the recently conclu ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/fct-election-ramadan-linked-to-low-turnout-voter-apathy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"FCT Election Ramadan Linked to Low Turnout Voter Apathy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A former media aide to late President Muhammadu Buhari, Bashir Ahmad, has attributed voter apathy in the recently conclu ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/fct-election-ramadan-linked-to-low-turnout-voter-apathy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Nigeria\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-02-22T10:58:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-22T12:07:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2026\/02\/sm_1771761968.076776.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"960\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"690\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/fct-election-ramadan-linked-to-low-turnout-voter-apathy#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/fct-election-ramadan-linked-to-low-turnout-voter-apathy\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"FCT Election Ramadan Linked to Low Turnout Voter Apathy\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-22T10:58:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-22T12:07:08+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/fct-election-ramadan-linked-to-low-turnout-voter-apathy\"},\"wordCount\":360,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/fct-election-ramadan-linked-to-low-turnout-voter-apathy#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2026\/02\/sm_1771761968.076776.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Nigeria\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"Policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/fct-election-ramadan-linked-to-low-turnout-voter-apathy#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/fct-election-ramadan-linked-to-low-turnout-voter-apathy\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/fct-election-ramadan-linked-to-low-turnout-voter-apathy\",\"name\":\"FCT Election Ramadan Linked to Low Turnout Voter Apathy - 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