The All Peoples Congress (APC) has halted its scheduled ward elections, citing insufficient funds and serious logistical challenges that make it impossible to conduct the exercise as planned.

In a formal position letter dated 10 February 2026, the party’s Internal Elections Management Committee (IEMC) announced that the ward elections slated for Saturday, 14 February 2026, “cannot proceed as planned due to insufficient funding and inadequate preparation time.”

The letter, signed by the IEMC National Coordinator, Haji Hassan Kamara Esq., was addressed to the APC National Secretary General and all party members and stakeholders.

According to the IEMC, although the APC had confirmed the commencement of its internal elections during a meeting at the Political Parties Registration Commission (PPRC) on 5 February 2026, the committee has not received the full approved budget required to conduct the ward-level polls.

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The committee disclosed that only 31.5 percent of the approved ward elections budget had been made available, and that 16 percent of a cheque issued had not been honored by the bank. This, the IEMC said, created “severe operational limitations” that threatened the conduct of credible elections.

The IEMC further stated that in a “Note to File” dated 6 February 2026 and addressed to the National Secretary General, it warned that the timely release of the outstanding balance, no later than mid-day Monday, 9 February 2026, was a prerequisite for commencing the electoral process as scheduled. However, as of 10 February 2026, the deadline had passed without the required disbursement of funds.

“With only four days remaining until the scheduled election date, the IEMC faces insurmountable logistical and operational challenges that make the conduct of free, fair, and credible elections impossible,” the committee stated.

The committee explained that the lack of funds made it impossible to recruit, train and remunerate polling personnel, including Presiding Officers. It also said it could not secure adequate transport and logistics for the distribution of materials and deployment of staff across wards.

In addition, the IEMC said it was unable to establish a properly approved list of candidates for ward elections and finalize the voter register. The committee emphasized that even if funds were released immediately, the four days remaining would not be sufficient to complete critical pre-election activities.

The IEMC stressed that it is constitutionally mandated to conduct internal elections that are free, fair, transparent and credible. It warned that proceeding under the current circumstances would violate the constitutional requirement for properly organized and resourced elections, expose the process to irregularities that could render the results legally invalid, and create grounds for disputes and possible nullification of results.

The committee added that holding elections without adequate resources would undermine democratic principles enshrined in the APC Constitution and damage the integrity of the party’s internal democratic processes.

As a result, the IEMC declared that the ward elections are “halted until such time as the full approved budget is released and adequate time is provided for proper electoral preparations.” It also stated that responsibility for the halt “lies entirely with the failure to release the approved budget as requested and within the timeline specified” in its 6 February note.

Despite the postponement, the committee said it remains willing and prepared to conduct the elections immediately upon receipt of the full approved budget and the provision of reasonable preparation time.

The IEMC acknowledged that the postponement may disappoint party members who were prepared to vote on 14 February but maintained that conducting flawed elections under inadequate time and resources would cause greater harm to the party’s democratic processes and institutional integrity.

The position letter serves as formal notice to all stakeholders of the halt of the ward elections scheduled for 14 February 2026.