INEC Flags Deceased Names on Voters’ Register, Plans Nationwide Verification

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has identified the inclusion of deceased persons on the current voters’ register, prompting plans for a nationwide verification exercise.

INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, disclosed this on Wednesday during the Commission’s first quarterly consultative meeting with Civil Society Organisations (CSOs).

According to Amupitan, the decision followed an analysis of figures from the Anambra State off-cycle governorship election held in November, which showed a wide gap between the number of registered voters and actual voter turnout.

“When we looked at the voters’ register for Anambra State during the off-cycle election in November, we discovered that the number of registered voters stood at over 2.9 million, but only about 600,000 people came out to vote,” he said.

“This is just about 20 per cent of the registered voters. So, we decided to take another look at the register and discovered that names of prominent Nigerian politicians who have died are still on the register.

“That impacts on 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,” Amupitan added.

According to the Commission, the verification exercise is aimed at sanitising the voters’ database and rebuilding public confidence in the electoral process.

The INEC chairman said the findings have raised serious concerns about the reliability of the register currently being used for elections across the country.

He stressed that credible elections cannot be achieved without an accurate and up-to-date voters’ register, noting that the presence of ineligible names undermines confidence in democracy.

Amupitan disclosed that the planned exercise would focus on removing the names of deceased persons, correcting data errors, and collaborating with relevant government agencies to authenticate records.

He added that the clean-up is part of broader efforts by the Commission to enhance electoral credibility and ensure that only eligible Nigerians are captured on the voters’ register.