…Says inaccurate register could facilitate election manipulation
The African Centre for Leadership, Strategy and Development (Centre LSD) has raised concerns over the integrity of the National Register of Voters, estimating that between 12 million and 18 million of the 103.4 million registered voters may be deceased.
The organisation warned that retaining deceased persons on the voters’ register could undermine the credibility of the 2027 general elections and create opportunities for electoral manipulation, particularly in areas with low voter turnout.
Centre LSD, whose executive director is Mr Monday Osasah, raised the concerns in a position paper on the 2027 general elections, calling on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to urgently address questions surrounding the integrity of the voters’ register.
The organisation said recent public questions surrounding the preliminary register, including suspicious photographs and possible irregularities in some voter records, required urgent attention.
It cited searches on INEC’s public voter portal which reportedly returned active records for former President Muhammadu Buhari, former Ondo State Governor Rotimi Akeredolu, former Senator Ifeanyi Ubah and media entrepreneur Raymond Dokpesi, all of whom are deceased.
The organisation argued that if the records of prominent deceased Nigerians remained on the register, there were likely to be similar cases involving ordinary citizens.
“If prominent deaths aren’t removed, ordinary ones almost certainly aren’t either,” it warned.
It noted that only about 10 per cent of deaths in Nigeria were formally registered, while INEC had reportedly disclosed removing just 7,746 deceased registrants.
Using United Nations and World Bank mortality data alongside INEC’s registration figures, Centre LSD estimated that between 12 million and 18 million names on the voters’ register could belong to deceased persons, representing approximately one in seven registered voters.
The organisation said the situation could distort the interpretation of voter turnout, create opportunities for inflated results in low-turnout areas, conceal electoral irregularities and lead to unnecessary expenditure on election materials and logistics.
It observed that Nigeria’s 27 per cent voter turnout in the 2023 general elections could have been closer to 31 per cent if calculated against living registered voters.
“An inaccurate or compromised register can undermine confidence in the entire electoral process and create opportunities for disputes, disenfranchisement and manipulation,” it said.
Centre LSD acknowledged INEC’s indication that it was examining the concerns and undertaking corrective measures but insisted that the integrity of the voters’ register was too fundamental to be treated as a routine administrative matter.
It urged the commission to conduct a transparent and credible audit of the register and investigate complaints involving duplicate, fictitious, deceased or otherwise ineligible voter records.
It also called for an accessible process through which citizens and political stakeholders could submit claims and objections, as well as the publication of information on biometric verification and data-cleaning procedures.
The organisation further urged INEC to protect citizens’ personal information while ensuring that the register remained sufficiently transparent for legitimate public scrutiny.
It encouraged Nigerians to participate actively in the ongoing claims and objections process rather than leave the responsibility entirely to INEC and political parties.
Centre LSD also expressed concern that INEC’s planned revalidation of the register had been postponed until after the 2027 elections, urging stakeholders to take the implications of the existing figures into account when interpreting voter turnout and electoral margins.
