The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has removed 7,746 deceased individuals from the national voter register across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
This was disclosed by Victoria Etta-Messi, INEC's Director of Voter Education and Publicity, during a press briefing on Thursday, PENTALK reports.
“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.
According to INEC, this cleanup is part of the routine maintenance conducted before every general election. However, the commission highlighted challenges with this process in its 2023 post-general election review, held in December 2024.
Challenges in Cleaning the Voter Register
The review identified significant hurdles in removing deceased voters due to the lack of comprehensive death records.
“Problems with official death records continue to make it very difficult for INEC to remove deceased registrants,” the commission revealed.
Additionally, INEC addressed the issue of multiple registrations by deploying the Automated Biometric Identification System, which flagged and removed 2,780,756 invalid entries, representing 22.6% of all new registrants.
Declining Voter Turnout
INEC also expressed concern over declining voter turnout. The 2023 presidential and National Assembly elections recorded a turnout of 27.5%, a sharp drop from 35.6% in 2019. Some stakeholders attributed this decline to an inflated voter register and suggested more rigorous efforts to clean it.
Recommendations for Improved Voter Register Management
Stakeholders at the review urged INEC to strengthen partnerships with agencies like the National Population Commission (NPC) and the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) to identify and remove deceased voters from the register.
Additionally, they proposed suspending individuals who have not participated in the past three elections, requiring them to revalidate their registration.
INEC acknowledged these suggestions and emphasized the need for improved collaboration to enhance the accuracy and integrity of the voter register.
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