INEC Voters Register: CSO Seeks Independent Probe, Warns Eligible Nigerians Could Lose Voting Rights

A civil society organisation, Speak Out Africa Initiative (SOAI), has called for an independent audit of the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) voters register, warning that flaws in the ongoing clean-up exercise could disenfranchise eligible Nigerians ahead of the 2027 general elections.

The organisation said the electoral commission could not independently investigate alleged irregularities, determine which voters should be removed and subsequently validate the credibility of its own corrective exercise without external oversight.

SOAI, in a statement issued in Abuja on Wednesday, acknowledged INEC’s disclosure that its review of the Preliminary Register of Voters had led to the removal of 1,608,660 confirmed invalid registrations and 873 records of verified deceased voters.

It also noted that 54 INEC personnel across 10 states had been identified for further investigation over alleged involvement in registration irregularities.

While describing the disclosures as important steps towards accountability, the organisation argued that they had not sufficiently addressed public concerns about the credibility of the national voters register.

It said an independent assessment had become particularly urgent given concerns over the display and online publication of the register and the risk of eligible voters being wrongly deleted.

SOAI urged INEC to ensure that an independent, transparent and technically credible audit was conducted before the commission publishes the final register scheduled for December 15, 2026.

According to the group, the controversy surrounding the 2025/2026 Continuous Voter Registration exercise has exposed serious questions about the integrity of the country’s electoral database.

Among the concerns it identified were suspected AI-generated photographs, duplicate registrations, unusual registration patterns, questionable entries and records of deceased persons allegedly retained in the register.

The organisation also referenced INEC Chairman, Professor Joash Amupitan, SAN, who had acknowledged historical integrity challenges affecting the voters register, including records dating from 2011 to 2023.

However, SOAI cautioned against treating every record flagged by automated systems as fraudulent, noting that biometric screening alone could not establish that a registration was invalid.

It acknowledged INEC’s explanation that records identified by its Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS) must undergo further examination before any decision is taken.

The group nevertheless maintained that Nigerians needed independent assurance that the verification procedures were consistently applied and that legitimate voters were not victims of erroneous deletions.

It said an external audit would help determine whether the clean-up exercise was comprehensive, accurate and fair, while providing credible evidence that the final register could withstand public scrutiny.

SOAI warned that failure to address the concerns could further weaken public confidence in the electoral process, stressing that protecting the integrity of the voters register must go hand in hand with safeguarding the voting rights of eligible citizens ahead of the 2027 elections.