Former Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Resident Electoral Commissioner, Mike Igini, has urged the electoral body to make its corrected voter register available to the public again for scrutiny before producing the final document for the 2027 general elections.
Titiansloaded reports that Igini’s recommendation follows INEC’s disclosure that it had identified and removed 1,608,660 invalid registrations from the preliminary register after concerns were raised about its accuracy.
The controversy has drawn attention to the credibility of the electoral process, with political parties and members of the public questioning the commission’s ability to organise transparent elections ahead of the 2027 polls.
Speaking on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief on Wednesday, the former commissioner praised INEC Chairman, Joash Amupitan, for admitting that errors had occurred in the register.
He said acknowledging mistakes was a necessary step towards addressing them, arguing that retaining an inaccurate record would do more damage to the credibility of the electoral process.
According to Igini, problems involving voter registration are not unprecedented in Nigeria’s electoral history. He recalled that similar issues had emerged when he joined the commission in 2010.
He stressed that the register must be treated as a critical part of election administration because its accuracy directly affects the integrity of the polls.
Igini also drew attention to the legal requirement for INEC to display the voters’ register at the ward level, saying online publication would allow more Nigerians to examine the records and raise objections where necessary.
He maintained that the revised register should be uploaded again before the final version is printed, giving the public another opportunity to identify possible irregularities.
Igini said the exercise should be completed ahead of the December 15 deadline, insisting that transparency in the process would help restore confidence in the commission.
On the investigation into allegations that AI-generated photographs appeared in the preliminary register published on INEC’s website, the former REC said it was too early to assess the commission’s response.
He explained that the public needed to wait for INEC to disclose the outcome of its investigation, adding that the register-cleaning exercise was still in progress.
Igini further called for serious penalties against individuals found responsible for manipulating voter registration records.
He warned that electoral malpractice could begin long before voting day if people were allowed to introduce fraudulent entries into the voters’ register without consequences.
The former commissioner argued that accountability must accompany efforts to clean up the register, saying those responsible for wrongdoing should face appropriate sanctions.
He said republishing the corrected document would be an important step towards rebuilding public trust in INEC and strengthening confidence in the 2027 electoral process.
