The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has confirmed the removal of 7,746 deceased voters from the national voter register across 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) as of December 2022.
The update was disclosed on Thursday by Victoria Etta-Messi, INEC’s Director of Voter Education and Publicity, who emphasized the commission’s commitment to cleaning up the voter register before every general election.
Despite ongoing efforts, INEC acknowledged challenges in removing deceased persons due to gaps in official death records. In its 2023 post-general election review conducted in December 2024, the commission noted that while 12,298,944 new voters were added, difficulties persist in identifying and eliminating deceased registrants.
To tackle cases of double or multiple registrations, INEC employed the Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS), which successfully flagged and removed 2,780,756 invalid registrations, representing 22.6% of all new registrants nationwide.
Additionally, concerns have been raised over declining voter turnout, with the 2023 presidential and National Assembly elections recording only 27.5% participation, down from 35.6% in 2019. Some stakeholders attribute this trend partly to an inflated voter register, calling for more robust data verification processes.
To enhance voter register accuracy, stakeholders have proposed stronger collaboration between INEC, the National Population Commission (NPC), and the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) to help identify deceased individuals more effectively.
A further suggestion is the temporary suspension of voters who have not participated in the last three elections, requiring them to revalidate their registration before being reinstated in the electoral roll.
INEC has reiterated its commitment to maintaining a credible voter register, ensuring that only eligible voters participate in future elections.
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