INEC register has names of dead people, Amupitan says

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said that the national voters’ register contains ‘names of deceased persons’ as it ‘has not been comprehensively cleaned since 2011’.
The INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, stated this during the Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room National Stakeholders Forum on Elections on Thursday in Abuja.
It was with the theme, “Securing Nigeria’s Democracy: Building Consensus for Credible Elections and Accountable Governance.”
He also said that the commission recorded 2,685,725 completed registrations in the first phase of the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise, which ended on December 10.
The INEC boss said that while 1,576,137 completed online registrations 1,109,588 completed their registration through physical capture, and that turnout was highest in Osun, Kaduna, Plateau, Imo, Borno and Lagos, respectively.
He urged civil society and all stakeholders to help mobilise citizens to take advantage of th the CVR window noting that some of the challenges the commission face stem from low participation in this stage.
“For instance, during our review in Anambra, we assessed a register of 2.8 million voters, yet turnout suggested only about 20 per cent participation.
“However, it is important to note that our voter register has not been comprehensively cleaned since 2011, meaning several names of deceased persons still appear.
“I do not want to mention specific names, but in Anambra, a prominent leader – known to have died many years ago – was still listed in the register.
“When someone who passed away 15 years ago, known both locally and internationally, remains on the voter register, it raises concerns about credibility. Statutorily, the claims and objections window is designed to address this,” Amupitan said.
He said that since the CVR exercise began on August 18, the latest data reflecting the nationwide response recorded 2,685,725 completed registrations.
He said, “Of this figure,” he said, “1,576,137 individuals completed their registration online, while 1,109,588 finalised their registration through physical capture.
“Osun State maintains its lead with 208,357 registered voters, followed by Kaduna State with 159,669; Plateau State with 152,650; and Imo State with 145,561. States like Borno (123,835) and Lagos (123,484) also reflect significant participation.
“The crucial exercise was scheduled to conclude its first quarter on December 10, and Phase One was successfully brought to a close yesterday (December 10). Beginning December 15, we will commence the next stage, which is the claims and objections period.”
Amupitan also said that the Phase Two of the CVR will begin on January 5, 2026, with registration centres moved closer to wards and communities to address distance and access challenges encountered in Phase One.
Responding to questions on vote buying, the INEC boss said the commission had reached out to security agencies for updates on individuals arrested for financial inducement during recent elections.
He said, “We have written to the police, the EFCC and others to provide investigation reports on those arrested. INEC can only prosecute; we do not have powers to arrest,” he said, adding that the commission relies on covert and overt security deployments to curb inducement at polling units.”
Amupitan said that the deployment of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and the INEC Result Viewing Portal (iREV) has enhanced transparency, but their performance is often affected by poor network coverage in many polling units.
“A tool like BVAS is only as good as the network it runs on. Achieving real-time upload of results to IReV is still one of our toughest operational battles,” he said.
He said that based on the Anambra experience, which involved operational bottlenecks, the commission is discussing with the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and mobile network operators, and is exploring alternative technologies and system redundancies to address the challenges in future elections.
He, however, absolved the commission of any blame, insisting that INEC does not control the underlying telecom infrastructure.
He said, “Someone once asked what happens if a powerful politician convinces a service provider to switch off its service on election day. The truth is that we do not have control over these networks. These are structural issues we must all confront.”
He noted that the commission looks forward to a future where it can operate its dedicated service infrastructure but that such capacity does not currently exist.
Speaking on imperative of credible elections, he said, “Credible elections are the undisputed foundation of democracy. When citizens believe their votes truly count, they empower themselves to demand the highest standards of accountability from leaders.”