INEC Orders Nationwide Voter Verification After Dead Names Found on Register

Nigeria – February 4, 2026 – The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has ordered a nationwide verification exercise after discovering that deceased individuals remain listed on the country’s voters’ register, raising concerns about electoral integrity.

INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, announced the decision during the Commission’s first quarterly consultative meeting with Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) on Wednesday. The review follows analysis of the Anambra State off-cycle governorship election in November, which revealed a sharp mismatch between registered voters and actual turnout.

“When we look at the voters register for Anambra State, over 2.9 million were registered, but only about 600 voted,” Amupitan said. “This is just about 20 percent of registered voters. Upon review, we discovered names of prominent politicians who have passed away still on the register. That impacts the integrity of the register and we have to do a clean-up because we don’t expect the dead to come from the grave to vote.”

Verification Exercise to Restore Credibility

The INEC chairman stressed that the verification process aims to remove deceased persons, correct data errors, and coordinate with government agencies to authenticate records. The exercise forms part of broader efforts to rebuild public confidence and ensure that only eligible Nigerians are captured on the voters’ register.

Amupitan emphasized that credible elections cannot be conducted without an accurate and up-to-date register, warning that the presence of ineligible names undermines public trust in the democratic process.