INEC Removes 7,746 Deceased Voters, Flags Challenges in Voter Register Cleanup

INEC Removes 7,746 Deceased Voters, Flags Challenges in Voter Register Cleanup

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has confirmed the removal of 7,746 deceased voters from the National Register of Voters across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) as of December 2022.


Victoria Etta-Messi, Director of Voter Education and Publicity at INEC, disclosed this during an interview on Thursday, noting the commission’s commitment to maintaining the integrity of the voter register.


“A total of 7,746 deceased persons were removed from the National Register of Voters across the 36 states and the FCT as of December 2022,” she stated.


Challenges in Maintaining an Accurate Voter Register
Despite efforts to clean up the voter register before every general election, INEC highlighted persistent challenges in its 2023 post-general election review conducted in December 2024. One major issue is the difficulty in identifying and removing deceased voters due to gaps in official death records.


“Problems with official death records continue to make it very difficult for INEC to remove deceased registrants,” the commission noted.


Tackling Invalid and Multiple Registrations
INEC also addressed the issue of double or multiple registrations by deploying the Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS). This system flagged and removed 2,780,756 invalid registrations, representing 22.6% of all new registrants added to the voter register.


In the buildup to the 2023 elections, INEC recorded 12,298,944 new registrants.


Declining Voter Turnout Raises Concerns
The 2023 presidential and National Assembly elections recorded a voter turnout of just 27.5%, a significant drop from 35.6% in the 2019 elections. Stakeholders attributed the decline partly to issues with an inflated voter register and called for more stringent cleanup efforts.


Recommendations for Future Improvements
In its review, INEC recommended stronger collaboration with agencies such as the National Population Commission (NPC) and the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) to accurately identify and remove deceased voters.


Stakeholders also proposed suspending individuals who have not voted in the past three elections and requiring them to revalidate their registration as a measure to improve the voter register’s accuracy.


“These suggestions aim to enhance the credibility of the voter register and address the issue of inflated voter figures,” INEC stated.


The commission reiterated its commitment to ensuring a credible electoral process and pledged to adopt innovative measures to improve voter register management ahead of future elections.

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