Daily Trust Editorial, Monday April 13, 2026
On Friday, April 10, 2026, reason prevailed as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) postponed the proposed nationwide voter revalidation exercise until after the 2027 general election. Mohammed Haruna, INEC National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, said the decision was taken at the commission’s meeting in Abuja. Reaffirming INEC’s commitment to conducting free, fair, credible and inclusive elections, Haruna defended the revalidation exercise as a critical component of the electoral body’s mandate to maintain a credible and up-to-date National Register of Voters with verified and reviewed voter records.
INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash O. Amupitan, SAN had on Wednesday, February 4, 2026 at the consultative meetings with Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and Media Executives in Abuja, announced plans to embark on the nationwide exercise “aimed at cleaning up and strengthening the integrity of Nigeria’s voters’ register ahead of the 2027 General Election.”
Amupitan stated that it would further sanitise the register ahead of 2027 by addressing persistent duplicate registrations, underage registrations, registration by non-citizens, inclusion of deceased persons and incomplete or inaccurate voter records, “which collectively undermine public confidence in the electoral process”.
He explained that although Nigeria’s national register of voters was first compiled ahead of the 2011 General Election and has been continuously updated and deployed for successive general, off-cycle and by-elections, its credibility must be periodically reinforced to reflect current realities and meet public expectations, adding that “a credible register remains the bedrock of free, fair and transparent elections. No electoral process can command public confidence without trust in the integrity of its voters’ register”.
Towards this, on April 2, Secretary to the Commission, Rose Oriaran-Anthony, in an internal memo asked all Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) to embark on a nationwide voter revalidation exercise on April 13, 2026. But in a twist on April 4, Mrs Oriaran-Anthony, in a statement, mandated all RECs to suspend publicity and all arrangements on the planned exercise. She added, however, that while awaiting further directives, they should continue with internal preparations for the exercise, including sourcing ad hoc personnel and preparing the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and other voter enrolment devices.
But the exercise’s initial suspension and later postponement wasn’t simply altruistic. INEC received unanticipated blowback over widespread concerns on its timing, transparency and lack of stakeholders’ input on such a crucial issue. Citing potential impact on voter participation in the 2027 general elections, African Democratic Congress (ADC) expressed apprehension that going ahead with it would be a potential “recipe for chaos” and “last-minute administrative experiment” that could disenfranchise millions of eligible voters. The party also raised alarm that any confusion arising from the exercise could unfairly benefit the ruling party, tasking INEC to act as an independent umpire rather than helping to “rig the elections before the votes are even cast”.
Movement for Credible Elections (MCE) called the exercise “wrongheaded” and potentially dangerous to Nigeria’s democratic process as it could fundamentally undermine the credibility of the 2027 general elections while arguing that coming at a time when Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) is already ongoing, it reflects poor planning and the commission’s intentions. Critics added that it could increase voter apathy as well as invariably lessen the number of people cleared to vote.
It is gratifying that INEC bowed to the public good by postponing the exercise. But we also insist that there was no need for it at this time, in the first instance. We believe that what INEC requires ahead of the 2027 elections is building up its credibility such that more Nigerians could participate in the electoral process.
No one doubts INEC’s powers under the Electoral Act 2026 Sections 9, 10, and 11 to compile, maintain, and update the national register of voters including correcting mistakes, removing duplicates and adding newly qualified voters. Yet, nowhere does the Act authorise mandatory reconfirmation by voters as a prerequisite for participation, which is what the exercise would have done – forcefully compelling every voter to physically or electrically revalidate their status as legal and eligible voters even though they were issued with a Permanent Voter’s Card (PVC). INEC must understand that the issuance of the card is neither provisional nor temporary, and not subject to periodic renewal.
We believe that had INEC gone ahead with the exercise, it would have administratively conditioned, diluted and narrowed the right of citizens to participate in elections as guaranteed by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended). It would have imposed new conditions that are inconsistent with the constitution and the Electoral Act.
Therefore, Daily Trust urges INEC to learn to be more circumspect in the discharge of its mandate. While admitting the voter register requires continuous clean-up, the electoral body must understand the serious political and electoral consequences of its actions. A situation where such a critical exercise would have taken place about nine months before a general election clearly over-compresses timelines and risked confusing voters especially those who may not understand the process or miss the revalidation deadline. Obviously, those who fail to revalidate will automatically be excluded from the electoral process.
We counsel INEC to continue the use of Continuous Voter Register (CVR) and other technological tools within its authority to update and clean-up the voters register. We object to any process which forces Nigerians, who previously registered and collected their PVCs, to be branded as falling short of eligibility to vote because of an uncalled-for revalidation, which could be handled through its existing mechanisms.
Also, INEC should use the botched revalidation exercise as a lesson to embrace policies and programmes that boost voter participation and rebuilding of public trust as it must admit it has a burdensome crisis of confidence with majority of Nigerians. The voter apathy, widespread skepticism about election outcomes and controversies over electoral processes is real.
The electoral body should deliver free, fair and credible elections where low turnout becomes history within an enlarged democratic space. This is the way forward.