INEC fires back at ADC over alleged inflated voter figures

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has dismissed claims by the African Democratic Congress (ADC) that voter registration figures from the Southwest were manipulated.

ADC, through its spokesperson Bolaji Abdullahi, had described the figures, including over 393,000 new registrations in Osun alone, as “statistically implausible.”

But INEC, in a response on Thursday, said there was “nothing extraordinary” about the numbers.

Rotimi Oyekanmi, Chief Press Secretary to INEC Chairman Mahmood Yakubu, explained that Osun had also topped the charts in previous voter registration exercises.

He cited records from 2021 showing the state racked up 154,893 pre-registrations within two weeks, eventually surpassing 708,000 by April 2022.

Oyekanmi stressed that the latest figures follow the same trend and assured that INEC’s Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS) will eliminate multiple entries.

The commission urged political parties to stick to verified data and avoid “speculative claims” capable of misleading Nigerians.