The Executive Director of Yiaga Africa, Samson Itodo, says the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is legally required to publish the voters’ register online ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Itodo’s position follows calls by opposition politicians and civil society groups for the electoral body to make the register available online.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Friday, he said the demand was backed by Section 19 of the Electoral Act 2026, which provides for the publication of the register both at designated physical locations and online.
“I think on this point about the release of the voters’ register, the law is very clear in Section 19 of the 2026 Electoral Act that after voter registration, there is claims and objections and that claims and objections shall happen not later that 90 days, in other words, it can happen earlier than 90 days but not later than 90 days before the day of an election. And what will be the mode? First, you publish in your offices or across the polling units and on INEC website or any website officially designated by INEC,” Itodo said.
He said INEC had indicated that the claims and objections exercise had been conducted across the country through physical visits to designated locations. However, he noted that the voters’ register was still unavailable on the commission’s website or any other officially designated website.
“What INEC has said is that the claims and objections has been conducted across the country and what you might call manually or the one that requires physical visitation of those areas but the one online as of today, the voters’ register is not on INEC’s website or on any official website. And what the law says in Section 19 of the Act is INEC shall, which means it is compulsory,” he said.
Itodo maintained that INEC was required to publish the register online in addition to displaying it at polling units, adding that the commission had failed to comply with that provision 85 days before the election.
He urged the electoral body to explain why it had not published the register online, warning that its silence could undermine public confidence.
“I think INEC owes it to the Nigerian voters to really make a statement as to why it has not been able to implement this part of the law. This silence does not inspire confidence, so INEC needs to explain to the people. In so far as you haven’t explained to the people and there is silence, it raises a lot of questions,” Itodo added.
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