INEC DISMISSES CLAIMS OF MANIPULATED ONLINE VOTER PRE-REGISTRATION DATA, CITES HISTORICAL TRENDS IN OSUN STATE
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By Aishat Momoh. O.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has rejected allegations by a political party questioning the authenticity of online voter pre-registration data, particularly the high number of registrants recorded in Osun State.
In a statement on Thursday, Chief Press Secretary to the INEC Chairman, Rotimi Oyekanmi, described the claims as unfounded and rooted in a lack of awareness of historical registration patterns.
“The attention of the Independent National Electoral Commission has been drawn to a press statement attributed to the spokesperson of a political party on the data published by the Commission on the online pre-registration of voters. Nothing can be further from the truth,” the statement read.
INEC noted that its current figures are consistent with trends from its 2021 Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise, when Osun State also led nationwide. Within the first 24 hours of launching the online portal in June 2021, 59,331 accounts were created, with Osun accounting for the highest share. By April 2022, the state topped all others with 708,782 completed pre-registrations.
“As of August 18, 2025, when the portal reopened, over 1.3 million Nigerians pre-registered online in the first week, with Osun leading again at 393,269, followed by Lagos with 222,205 and the FCT with 107,682,” Oyekanmi explained.
The commission stressed that online pre-registration is only the first step, as applicants must still complete the process in person with biometric data capture to confirm eligibility and prevent multiple registrations. INEC also reaffirmed its use of the Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS) to detect double entries.
Oyekanmi further reminded Nigerians that during the 2019 and 2023 general elections, over 14 million and 9.4 million new voters, respectively, were added to the National Register after rigorous verification, bringing the total number of registered voters to 93,469,008 in 2023.
He assured that INEC will continue to publish regular updates on the ongoing registration exercise while urging political actors and the public to avoid misinformation.
“It is not in the Commission’s place to speculate on why any state records more registrants than others. Our duty is to ensure only real persons who meet constitutional and legal requirements are allowed to register. We appeal to citizens to rely on authentic, verifiable data from our official sources,” the statement concluded.
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