The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has confirmed the removal of 7,746 deceased voters from Nigeria’s national voter register across all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) as of December 2022. This was disclosed on Thursday by Victoria Etta-Messi, INEC’s Director of Voter Education and Publicity, as part of the commission’s efforts to ensure an accurate voter register.
“Seven thousand, seven hundred and forty-six deceased persons across the 36 states and the FCT were removed from the National Register of voters as of December 2022,” Etta-Messi stated.
Despite these efforts, INEC acknowledged persistent challenges during its December 2024 post-2023 general election review. A major issue remains the difficulty of identifying and removing deceased voters due to unreliable official death records.
“Problems with official death records continue to make it very difficult for INEC to remove deceased registrants,” the commission noted. To address this, INEC emphasized the need for stronger collaboration with agencies like the National Population Commission (NPC) and the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC).
The commission also highlighted issues of double and multiple registrations flagged by the Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS), which identified and removed 2,780,756 invalid registrations—22.6% of new registrants.
Additionally, INEC raised concerns about declining voter turnout. The 2023 presidential and National Assembly elections recorded a turnout of 27.5%, a sharp decline from 35.6% in 2019. Stakeholders attributed this drop partly to an inflated voter register and proposed measures such as suspending voters who have not participated in the last three elections, requiring them to revalidate their registration.
INEC reiterated its commitment to improving the voter registration process and addressing these challenges to enhance electoral integrity in future elections.
