Amupitan Raises Alarm: Voter register still bears names of the dead

The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof. Joash Amupitan (SAN), on Thursday emphasised the urgent need to sanitise Nigeria’s voter register ahead of the 2027 general elections. He warned that the register has not undergone a full clean-up since 2011, leaving it cluttered with the names of many deceased individuals.

Speaking at the Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room’s National Stakeholders’ Forum on Elections in Abuja, Amupitan gave an update on the recently concluded first phase of the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR), which closed on 10 December. He noted that the next statutory step, the claims and objections period,  will open on Monday, 15 December, and appealed to civil society groups to mobilise citizens to participate actively.

Amupitan said: “I want to appeal 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 a 20 per cent participation rate. 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, well 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.”

Providing fresh data from the CVR, the INEC chairman confirmed that 2,685,725 applicants completed their registrations during the first phase. Of this number, 1,576,137 registered online, while 1,109,588 completed physical capture.

He reported that Osun, Kaduna, Plateau, Imo, Borno, and Lagos recorded the highest turnout.

Amupitan added: “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… Beginning December 15, we will commence the next stage, which is the claims and objections period.”

He explained that the claims and objections window will allow Nigerians to confirm or correct entries before the register is consolidated. Phase Two of the CVR will begin on 5 January 2026, with registration centres decentralised to reduce distance barriers experienced during Phase One.

On vote-buying, Amupitan revealed that INEC was awaiting updates from security agencies on investigations involving individuals arrested for financial inducement during previous polls.

“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.

He noted that while technology such as the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV) has enhanced transparency, poor network connectivity still hampers real-time result uploads.

“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 explained.

According to him, INEC continues to work with the Nigerian Communications Commission and mobile operators on solutions but does not control the underlying infrastructure. He warned that this remains a structural vulnerability.

“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 the structural issues we must all confront,” he added.

Amupitan acknowledged that INEC aims to eventually operate its own dedicated network infrastructure but said the commission does not yet possess the capacity.

The Continuous Voter Registration exercise allows newly eligible voters and previously unregistered citizens to enrol, and also accommodates those who have relocated and need to transfer their registration.