“Dead Voters Still On Register” — INEC Chairman Says Nationwide Verification Needed To Clean Electoral List

The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Joash Amupitan, on Wednesday disclosed that a review of the nation’s voters’ register revealed that the names of several deceased Nigerians remain on the list currently used for elections.

Amupitan made the disclosure during the commission’s first quarterly meeting with Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), noting that INEC would soon commence a nationwide verification exercise to sanitize the register. The exercise is aimed at identifying and removing ineligible entries to improve the credibility and integrity of the electoral database.

“When we look at the Voters Register for Anambra State during the off-cycle elections in November, we discovered that the number of registered voters stood at over 2.9 million, but only about 600 came out to vote.

This is just about 20 percent of the registered voters,” he said. “We discovered names of prominent Nigerian politicians who have died still on the register. That impacts the integrity of the register, and we have to do a clean-up because we don’t expect the dead to come from the grave to vote.”

Prof. Amupitan also disclosed that the timetable for the 2027 general election is ready but is being delayed due to ongoing amendments to the Electoral Act, which may affect the schedule of activities. He assured Nigerians that INEC is prepared for the elections despite the delay in the passage of the amended Act currently before the National Assembly.

While some items on the schedule could be impacted by the legislative process, Amupitan said the commission will, for now, rely on the existing Act to guide its preparations.