INEC receives 4,800 claims and 600 objections on voter register ahead of 2027 elections

Nigeria's Independent National Electoral Commission has received more than 4,800 claims and about 600 objections on the preliminary voter register. INEC Chairman Professor Joash Amupitan SAN disclosed the figures during a visit by an ECOWAS pre-election fact-finding mission to the commission's headquarters in Abuja.

The mission is led by Victor Bockarie Foh, a former Vice-President of Sierra Leone. Amupitan said the claims were filed at registration areas where the register was displayed as of Thursday and mainly involved corrections and other minor matters.

“the register will be properly cleaned up ahead of the final list”

The commission also received about 600 complaints through electoral officers and Resident Electoral Commissioners from various wards. Amupitan said the online display of the register is confirming some of the complaints already received.

The register currently stands at over 103 million registered citizens. Amupitan described the figure as huge and said discrepancies would be corrected so that the register will be properly cleaned up ahead of the final list.

The commission completed three phases of the Continuous Voter Registration exercise and recently ended the physical display of the preliminary register nationwide. It has also published the register on its online portal, display.inecnigeria.org, for public scrutiny, claims, and objections.

Presidential and National Assembly elections are scheduled for Saturday, January 16, 2027. Governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections will hold on Saturday, February 6, 2027.

INEC will deploy personnel and technology across 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, covering 774 Local Government Areas, 8,809 Registration Areas, and 176,846 polling units. The commission has executed nine of the 14 major milestones in its revised timetable for the election.