Former Resident Electoral Commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mike Igini, has warned that Nigerians must be given another opportunity to scrutinise the cleaned-up voters’ register before its final production to prevent doubts over the credibility of the 2027 general elections.
Igini said the commission must republish the corrected register on its website before December 15, the statutory deadline, to enable Nigerians to examine the changes and identify possible irregularities.
He spoke on Wednesday during an interview on Channels Television’sThe Morning Brief, following INEC’s announcement that it had removed 1,608,660 invalid registrations from the preliminary register after concerns were raised over its integrity.
The former REC, who described the voters’ register as the foundation of credible elections, said public access to the revised document was necessary to establish confidence in the electoral process.
According to him, the commission should not proceed to final production without first allowing citizens to interrogate the corrected register.
“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.
Igini explained that the Electoral Act requires INEC to publish the register at the ward level, adding that online publication would further widen public access and scrutiny.
He said the commission should make the revised register available before December 15 to give Nigerians sufficient opportunity to examine its contents.
Igini commended INEC Chairman, Joash Amupitan, for acknowledging the errors discovered in the preliminary register, noting that admitting mistakes was preferable to concealing them.
“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,” he said.
He, however, said the removal of the invalid registrations was not enough to establish public confidence, insisting that INEC must disclose the findings of its investigation into the controversy surrounding the preliminary register, including the discovery of AI-generated photographs.
Igini said he could not determine whether the commission’s response was satisfactory until details of the investigation and the measures taken were made public.
He also called for appropriate sanctions against individuals found responsible for manipulating the registration process, arguing that electoral malpractice could begin long before voting day through deliberate attempts to inflate the voters’ register.
“Election rigging starts from voter’s registration where people try to populate the register,” he said.
The former electoral commissioner maintained that accountability must accompany the ongoing clean-up, warning that the absence of consequences for electoral offences could encourage further violations.
He said INEC’s handling of the matter would have implications for public confidence as political parties and Nigerians prepare for the 2027 elections.
