The opposition Action Peoples Party, APP, has lodged a formal protest with the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, over what it calls deliberately inflated figures in the 2026 Preliminary Register of Voters for the Ugirike/Okwu/Eziama Registration Area (16-08-10), in Ikeduru Local Government Area of Imo State.
The party alleged that one ward holds 17 per cent of Ikeduru's voters in 9 per cent of its polling units, demanding a forensic audit before the register is certified on December 15, 2026.
The petition, addressed to the INEC National Chairman in Abuja and received by his office on November 11, 2026, was filed on behalf of the party and its candidate for Imo East senatorial district, Dr Chima Amadi.
This was contained in a statement issued on Wednesday by Barrister Uchenna Nnadi and Abu Ibrahim Bossan, the party's National Chairman and National Secretary respectively and made available to journalists.
Drawing only on INEC's preliminary register for the nine LGAs of Owerri Zone, the party points to 17 per cent of voters on 9 per cent of units.
"The ward has 21 of Ikeduru's 227 polling units but 23,984 of its 141,427 registered voters; its polling units average 1,142 voters, against 570 across Ikeduru's other 206 units.
"Eke Amaehi Village Square (16-08-10-021) records 3,117 voters, the highest of all 2,005 polling units in Owerri Zone; that is 932 more than the largest unit in Owerri Municipal (Urban Secondary School, 2,185).
"The ward has more voters than Uzoagba (16,014 across 30 units), Ikeduru's next-largest ward, and more than five times Amatta (4,551).
"In the same ward, the ten Ugirike and Okwu units average 601 voters, in line with the rest of the LGA. The six Eziama units average 1,640, and three further units (019–021) hold 6,901 between them. Eight of Ikeduru's ten largest polling units sit in this one ward. Neighbouring communities in a single ward do not differ by a factor of nearly three through honest registration," the party said.
The APP noted that INEC itself acknowledged on October 27, 2026, that irregularities, including suspected AI-generated photographs, were found during public display of the preliminary register.
The APP demanded that a forensic audit of every record in the registration area, starting with units 16-08-10-011 to 016 and 019 to 021, be completed before the final register is certified on December 15, 2026.
"Full biometric de-duplication (fingerprint and facial) against the national register, and verification of each registrant's eligibility and residence. Disclosure, for those nine units, of how many registrations were added in each phase of Continuous Voter Registration, when, and by which devices and officers," the APP demanded.
It also asked for the "removal of every invalid record, with affected entries withheld from the certified register until the audit is complete."
While demanding disciplinary action and prosecution for anyone found to have helped inflate the register, the party requested access for its representatives to observe the audit, and a written response within 14 days.
"A padded register in one ward is a fraud on every genuine voter in the senatorial district, whatever party they support," the party said. "The people of Imo East will not accept an election conducted on figures that cannot withstand scrutiny."
2027: APP petitions INEC over suspected padding of voter register in Imo LG