The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has announced the removal of 7,746 deceased voters from Nigeria’s national voter register across all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) as of December 2022. This update, shared by INEC’s Director of Voter Education and Publicity, Victoria Etta-Messi, underscores the commission’s dedication to maintaining an accurate and credible voter database.
“Seven thousand, seven hundred and forty-six deceased persons across the 36 states and the FCT were removed from the National Register of Voters as of December 2022,” Etta-Messi confirmed during a briefing.
Despite this progress, INEC highlighted ongoing challenges in purging deceased voters due to gaps in official death records. The commission called for stronger collaboration with agencies like the National Population Commission (NPC) and the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) to streamline the process.
Additionally, INEC revealed that its Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS) flagged and removed 2,780,756 invalid registrations, representing 22.6% of new applicants. These were attributed to cases of double and multiple registrations.
Concerns were also raised over declining voter turnout. The 2023 presidential and National Assembly elections recorded a turnout of 27.5%, a drop from 35.6% in 2019. Stakeholders cited an inflated voter register and suggested reforms, such as suspending non-active voters and requiring revalidation for those who have not participated in the last three elections.
INEC reaffirmed its commitment to improving voter registration processes and addressing these issues to bolster electoral integrity ahead of future elections.
