Although the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Joash Amupitan, has initiated moves to clean up irregularities in the voter register, questions about the commission’s sincerity and commitment to ensuring credible elections in 2027 continues to persist, Davidson Iriekpen writes
The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof Joash Amupitan, recently announced that the commission removed 1,608,660 invalid voter registrations. At a press briefing in Abuja, Amupitan said the commission identified the invalid registrations through a review using the automated biometric identification system (ABIS) for the 2025 and 2026 CVR exercise.
Amupitan added that 54 officials of the commission linked to the manipulation of the voter registration in 10 states are to face the law.
According to him, an additional 873 records belonging to verified deceased persons were removed, bringing the total number of records deleted from the register to 1,609,553.
The clean-up was as a result of the backlash that followed when the commission displayed the preliminary register at registration wards between October 9 and 15, 2026, and its subsequent online publication.
The integrity of the voter register came under fresh scrutiny following allegations of discovery of Artificial Intelligence (AI)-generated photographs, irregularities, duplicate registrations and fictitious voter identities in the voter register.
The controversy sparked widespread reactions after images of questionable voter records circulated on social media, prompting renewed demands for transparency, an independent audit of the register and explanations from the electoral commission over the accuracy of the data it intended to use for the elections.
Among the doctored records were entries linked to polling units where some photographs appeared to have been generated using AI, alongside reports of duplicate personal details and discrepancies involving voters’ identities.
Amupitan had earlier disclosed that Nigeria’s National Register of Voters had risen to over 103 million following the completion of the three-phase Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise and final biometric cleanup.
In his keynote address at a One-Day Strategic Workshop for Editors, organised by the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) in collaboration with the commission in Abuja, he said the three phases of the CVR exercise produced 10,772,421 new registrations, subject to verification by the Automated Biometric Identification Systems (ABIS).
However, Nigerians had raised the alarm that the CVR was filled with AI-generated photographs and duplicate voter records.
This development had heightened doubts and fears among many Nigerians about the commission’s sincerity and commitment to delivering free, fair and credible elections in 2027.
As the allegations were raging, social media was again inundated with reports indicating that in the 2024 governorship election in Edo State, the polling unit of Governor Monday Okpebholo recorded 397 voters on the register. But in 2026, it moved dramatically to 4,783. This means that the polling unit recorded 4,386 new voters, an increase of 1,105%.
The governor had repeatedly said Edo would deliver 2.5 million votes for President Bola Tinubu in 2027 as a reward for Tinubu’s love for the people of the state.
Many Nigerians had concluded that the curious rise in the number of registered voters was part of the plot to massively rig the 2027 elections and hit the 2.5million target.
At the Okoroiti Polling Unit in Akwa State, it was discovered that the 114 voters in the 2023 register soared to 888 in the 2026 register – a 679% increase – and the second-largest jump in the state.
This also raised fears of alleged plot to rig the 2027 elections in the state.
The inexplicable increase in the number of voters has been allegedly replicated across the states controlled by the ruling APC to give the party undue advantage and deliver maximum number of votes to the party in 2027.
In some states, where political actors in the APC have been boasting that they will give President Tinubu between two and three million votes, only less than 500,000 people voted in the 2023 general election in some of those states.
For instance, in Rivers State, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, is targeting of three million votes for Tinubu. Speaking at the inauguration the Presidential Campaign Council for in the state last week, he directed members to recruit at least five new voters daily to secure victory for the president in the 2027 election. Meanwhile, in 2023, Tinubu got 231,591 votes to win the state.
Reacting to criticisms over the discovery, the electoral commission said the voter register was not the final certified register, assuring Nigerians that suspected AI-generated photographs and other irregularities identified in the document were being investigated.
It added that it was reviewing questionable registration records and would take appropriate corrective action before certifying the final register on December 15, 2026.
In its statement, the Chairman of INEC’s Information and Voter Education Committee, Mohammed Haruna, explained that the Display, Claims and Objections exercise was designed to allow members of the public to scrutinise the register, identify inaccuracies and irregularities, and facilitate corrections before its final certification.
He had also clarified that the register published by the commission was the same preliminary register physically displayed at Registration Areas nationwide between October 9 and 15 as part of the exercise.
According to him, some questionable registration records had been identified and flagged for further examination during the physical display, prompting the commission to commence a review and corrective process in line with established procedures.
Haruna disclosed that the commission was investigating the circumstances surrounding the suspicious photographs, including possible technical or procedural lapses that might have contributed to their appearance in the register.
A few days later, while speaking on ARISE NEWS Channel, INEC’s Director of Information and Communication Technology, Lawrence Bayode, admitted that some registration officers had used their login credentials to introduce irregularities into the database.
To further douse the tension the allegations generated, INEC Chairman, Amupitan, reaffirmed his commitment to conducting free, fair and credible elections in 2027, declaring that he has no preferred candidate or political party in the forthcoming general elections.
But the commission’s refusal to expose and shame the enemies of democracy who were responsible for the fraudulent manipulation of the voters’ register casts doubts on the credibility of next year’s elections.
As December 15, 2026, fixed for the publication of the final voters’ register approaches, attention will now focus on whether INEC can remove all the suspicious records, resolve outstanding voter complaints and demonstrate that its verification procedures are sufficient to protect the integrity of the register ahead of the 2027 general election. The commission must know that the credibility of the polls depends largely on an accurate and credible voter register. This is why it must get its act together and do the right thing.
For the commission, the ultimate game-changer for credibility is simple: Ensure that on Election Day, no vote that was not cast by a living, and accredited voter enters the system. If that is guaranteed, acceptance of outcomes becomes easier and losers will concede.
Similarly, winners will govern with legitimacy.
For Amupitan, he must ensure that he holds tenaciously to his much-touted integrity and credibility to address all the past credibility deficits that tainted the credibility of past elections. It is not enough to consistently pledge to conduct free, fair and credible polls; he must conduct the activities of the commission as an impartial umpire who is committed to the sanctity of the ballot, and not as a servant of political interests.