2027 Election: INEC to Release Details of New Political Parties and Clean Up Voter Register
- INEC announced plans to carry out a nationwide clean-up of Nigeria’s voter register to strengthen its credibility ahead of the 2027 General Election
- Chairman Joash Amupitan said the exercise would tackle issues such as duplicate registrations, underage voters and names of deceased persons that undermine public trust
- He also confirmed progress on new political party registrations and the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration, which has already recorded millions of new voters
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) announced that it would carry out a nationwide clean-up of Nigeria’s register of voters to strengthen its integrity ahead of the 2027 General Election.
INEC Chairman, Professor Joash Amupitan, disclosed this during the commission’s quarterly consultative meeting with Civil Society Organisations on Wednesday in Abuja.
Source: Twitter
He stressed that a credible register of voters was the foundation of free, fair and transparent elections, noting, “no electoral process can command public confidence without trust in the integrity of its voters’ register.”
Professor Amupitan explained that Nigeria’s national register, first compiled ahead of the 2011 General Election, had been continuously updated and used in the 2011, 2015, 2019 and 2023 general elections, as well as in several off-cycle governorship and by-elections.
He revealed that the register stood at 93,469,008 voters during the 2023 general election but still faced challenges such as duplicate registrations, underage voters, non-citizens, deceased persons and incomplete records. He warned that these anomalies undermined public confidence in the electoral process.
According to him, INEC would embark on a nationwide Voter Revalidation Exercise to address these issues. He cited the Anambra governorship election as an example, where out of 2.8 million registered voters, fewer than 600,000 participated.
He said the discovery of deceased politicians’ names on the register highlighted the need for urgent reform.
“We’re going to clean up and ensure that we don’t continue to expect dead people to come from their graves and come and vote on the day of the election,” he stated.
New political parties registration
Professor Amupitan also provided an update on associations seeking registration as political parties. He recalled that INEC had received 171 letters of intent from groups wishing to be recognised.
He explained that the commission assessed the applications in line with Section 222 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), Section 79 of the Electoral Act, 2022, and Clause 2 of INEC’s Regulations and Guidelines for Political Parties, 2022.
He noted that several associations failed to meet the constitutional and legal requirements but assured that details of successful applications would be released soon.
“Let me assure you that the successful association(s) will soon be announced by the commission,” he said.
Continuous voter registration (CVR)
Speaking on the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration (CVR), Professor Amupitan confirmed that the second phase of the exercise began on January 5 and would run until April 17. He added that the entire CVR programme would last one year, concluding on August 30.
He reported that during the first phase, conducted between August 18 and December 10, 2025, INEC registered 2,782,589 eligible voters. He said the strong public response demonstrated Nigerians’ belief in the democratic process and the commission’s efforts to ensure that every eligible citizen had the chance to register and vote.
For transparency, he noted that INEC published weekly data on completed online pre-registrations and physical registrations on its website.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported that representatives of registered civil society organisations attended the meeting.
Source: Twitter
INEC takes decision on 2027 election amid NASS drama
Legit.ng earlier reported that at the same time, the electoral body said it completed its homework on the 2027 election timetable and the schedule of activities.
Vanguard reported that Prof. Joash Amupitan, the chairman of the commission, announced the development during a meeting with Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in Abuja on Wednesday, February 4.
Proofreading by Funmilayo Aremu, copy editor at Legit.ng.
Source: Legit.ng
