The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has announced the removal of 7,746 deceased voters from the national voter register across Nigeria’s 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory as of December 2022.
Victoria Etta-Messi, INEC’s Director of Voter Education and Publicity, disclosed this on Thursday, emphasizing that the cleanup is part of the commission’s routine pre-election preparations.
Ongoing Challenges in Voter Register Cleanup
Despite progress, INEC acknowledged challenges in maintaining the accuracy of the voter register. One major issue is the difficulty of identifying and removing deceased voters due to gaps in official death records.
In its December 2024 post-election review, the commission noted that while the 2023 general elections added 12,298,944 new registrants, about 22.6% (2,780,756) of these were invalid due to double or multiple registrations. These cases were detected and eliminated using the Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS).
Declining Voter Turnout and Inflated Register Concerns
Stakeholders raised concerns over declining voter turnout, with the 2023 presidential and National Assembly elections recording a 27.5% turnout, down from 35.6% in 2019. Some attributed this trend partly to an inflated voter register.
Recommendations for Improvement
During its post-election review, INEC highlighted suggestions from stakeholders to address these issues:
- Strengthen collaboration with agencies such as the National Population Commission (NPC) and the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) to improve the identification of deceased voters.
- Suspend individuals who have not voted in the past three elections, requiring them to revalidate their registration to remain on the register.
INEC affirmed its commitment to enhancing the integrity of the voter register and addressing gaps in the electoral process to bolster public confidence in future elections.
