INEC Should Republish Corrected Voters’ Register Before December 15 Deadline – Mike Igini

A former Resident Electoral Commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mike Igini, has urged the Commission to republish its corrected register of voters to allow Nigerians scrutinise it ahead of the 2027 general elections.

Igini made the call after INEC announced on Monday that it had removed more than 1,608,660 invalid registrations from the preliminary voters’ register.

The development followed public concerns over the credibility of the register after AI-generated photographs were reportedly discovered among the records published on the Commission’s website.

Speaking on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief on Wednesday, the former REC commended INEC Chairman, Joash Amupitan, for acknowledging the errors and taking steps to address them.

He said it was better for an election management body to admit mistakes than to ignore them, stressing that the voters’ register remained the foundation of every credible election.

“The received wisdom as an election manager, which is what the chairman has done, is that it is better to acknowledge an error rather than to preserve it, because the voter register is the foundation of any credible election,” he said.

Igini added that problems involving invalid registrations were not entirely new, recalling that similar situations had occurred when he joined INEC in 2010.

He argued that the Commission should make the updated register available online before producing the final version for the 2027 elections.

According to him, the Electoral Act requires INEC to publish the voters’ register at the ward level, while online publication would give Nigerians an opportunity to examine the records and raise objections where necessary.

“The publication on the website will give Nigerians the opportunity to interrogate because INEC processes must be subject to openness and interrogation,” he said.

Igini specifically urged the Commission to republish the corrected register before the December 15 deadline, saying wider public scrutiny would help strengthen confidence in the electoral process.

“What is now expected to be done with this current register is to put it back on the website before the final production,” he said.

“On the 15th, to meet up that legal deadline, the register should again be put on the website for wider public interrogation. That is the only thing that should be done before the 15th of December.”

On the investigation into the irregularities, including the alleged use of AI-generated photographs in the preliminary register, Igini said it was too early to assess INEC’s response because the Commission had yet to disclose the outcome of its investigation.

“We cannot talk about satisfaction now until the commission has come out with what they have done. I understand that the cleanup is still ongoing,” he said.

He also called for severe sanctions against anyone found responsible for manipulating the voters’ register, warning that electoral malpractice could begin at the registration stage.

“Election rigging starts from voter’s registration where people try to populate the register,” he said.

Igini maintained that accountability was essential to restoring public confidence, arguing that those responsible for electoral offences must face consequences.

“Society makes progress based on reward and sanction, but in our country today those who do the wrong thing are being rewarded. There is no sanction at all,” he added.

He reiterated that republishing the corrected register would give Nigerians an opportunity to examine the records and help INEC build public trust ahead of the 2027 elections.