The Independent National Electoral Commission has raised the alarm that the voter register contains “names of deceased persons” as it “has not been comprehensively cleaned since 2011.”
INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, raised the alarm on Thursday during the Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room National Stakeholders Forum on Elections in Abuja.
He disclosed that the commission recorded 2,685,725 completed registrations in the first phase of the Continuous Voter Registration exercise, which ended on December 10.
According to him, 1,576,137 completed online registrations while 1,109,588 completed their registration through physical capture, noting that turnout was highest in Osun, Kaduna, Plateau, Imo, Borno and Lagos, respectively.
“Since the CVR exercise began on August 18, I am pleased to share the latest data reflecting the nationwide response. As of our most recent updates, the Commission has recorded 2,685,725 completed registrations.
“Of this figure,” he said, “1,576,137 individuals completed their registration online, while 1,109,588 finalised their registration through physical capture.”
Amupitan stated, “Osun State maintains its lead with 208,357 registered voters, followed by Kaduna State with 159,669; Plateau State with 152,650; and Imo State with 145,561. States like Borno (123,835) and Lagos (123,484) also reflect significant participation.
“The crucial exercise was scheduled to conclude its first quarter on December 10, and Phase One was successfully brought to a close yesterday.
“Beginning December 15, we will commence the next stage, which is the claims and objections period.”
He appealed “to civil society and all stakeholders here to help mobilise citizens to take advantage of this window. Some of the challenges we face stem from low participation in this stage.
“For instance, during our review in Anambra, we assessed a register of 2.8 million voters, yet turnout suggested only about 20 per cent participation.
“However, it is important to note that our voter register has not been comprehensively cleaned since 2011, meaning several names of deceased persons still appear.
“I do not want to mention specific names, but in Anambra, a prominent leader – known to have died many years ago – was still listed in the register.
“When someone who passed away 15 years ago, known both locally and internationally, remains on the voter register, it raises concerns about credibility. Statutorily, the claims and objections window is designed to address this.”
According to him, Phase Two of the CVR will begin on January 5, 2026, with registration centres moved closer to wards and communities to address distance and access challenges encountered in Phase One.
Responding to questions on vote buying, Amupitan said the commission had reached out to security agencies for updates on individuals arrested for financial inducement during recent elections.
“We have written to the police, the EFCC and others to provide investigation reports on those arrested.
“INEC can only prosecute; we do not have powers to arrest,” he said, adding that the commission relies on covert and overt security deployments to curb inducement at polling units.
Amupitan stressed that the deployment of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System and the INEC Result Viewing Portal has enhanced transparency, but their performance is often affected by poor network coverage in many polling units.
“A tool like BVAS is only as good as the network it runs on. Achieving real-time upload of results to IReV is still one of our toughest operational battles,” he said.
He said that based on the Anambra experience, which involved operational bottlenecks, the commission is discussing with the Nigerian Communications Commission and mobile network operators, and is exploring alternative technologies and system redundancies to address the challenges in future elections.
He, however, absolved the commission of any blame, emphasising that INEC does not control the underlying telecom infrastructure.
“Someone once asked what happens if a powerful politician convinces a service provider to switch off its service on election day. The truth is that we do not have control over these networks. These are structural issues we must all confront,” he said.
Amupitan added that the commission looks forward to a future where it can operate its dedicated service infrastructure but noted that such capacity does not currently exist.
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