… Let Nigerians See the Register BEFORE They Vote!
Abuja – Nigeria’s commitment to electoral integrity is already being tested by the 2027 general election. The heart of the latest concern is not some novel, complex technology or some arcane voting process. The Register of Voters. An ordinary democratic document.
It is clear. The Electoral Act 2026, section 19(1. The Commission shall, not later than 90 days before a general election, fix a date for the display of the voters’ register for each Local Government, Area Council or Ward for a period of seven days at every Registration Area and on the Commission’s official website or any other website established by the Commission. Section 19(2) also gives an opportunity to the citizens to challenge omissions, inclusions and errors.
The register would be displayed between 9 October and 15 October 2026, INEC said as the collection of the PVCs was the front line message. The Commission said the National Register now has almost 103 million voters with three rounds of Continuous Voter Registration. But the problem of openness is still acute.
As of now, the INEC online Preliminary Register gateway continues to display a notification saying there are no preliminary registers to display.
The dispute isn’t limited to the internet. It said that in several parts of Lagos, including Alimosho and Shomolu, access to the register was apparently only available on request, and voters were allowed to check their individual names between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m., according to ARISE News’ independent verification of the facts. ARISE maintained that this was not the same as the free public display contemplated under Section 19. INEC Lagos debunked the report and said that the register was exhibited in all the 245 Registration Areas in the state. Since then, ARISE has defended their investigation. Also, many Nigerians cannot validate INEC physical public display of voters registration as declared by the commission — this raises severe credibility problems on an electoral umpire who’s encouraging Nigerians to trust the 2027 elections process. “Why would such an important part of elections process like display of voters register be superimposed into PVC collection, which ordinarily should be an open exercise for people to come at any time and pick their PVC.”
This is not a dispute to be dismissed as a media squabble. It poses a basic question: are citizens able to independently verify that the electoral register has been made available to them as required by law?
The point of showing the register is clear. A voter should be able to discover before election day that his or her name is missing, misspelt, mistakenly entered or otherwise incorrectly recorded. Citizens must also be allowed to identify ineligible entries and to submit complaints. And what about those whose details may have been moved and need to check before voting day?
These precautions are considerably more critical when dealing with a register of over 100 million voters.
INEC Chairman Professor Joash Amupitan has pledged that the 2027 election will be a “global benchmark for transparency, integrity and peace”. Those are good promises. But assurances do not build electoral legitimacy. It is produced when institutions are demonstrably law-abiding, and the process is independently verifiable.
This is not new to Nigeria. The European Union Election Observation Mission said the 2023 elections highlighted structural problems and that deficiencies in electoral administration and transparency undermined public confidence in INEC. The message should be clear: transparency matters, so perception matters.
Hence it would be unwise to allow doubt over the registration to continue. INEC should publish the register online, give a transparent description of the physical display around the country and, where citizens were denied meaningful access, give a true remedial opportunity to inspect and contest the register — This is not a criticism on INEC. It is about protecting the credibility of INEC.
The Commission does not want Nigerians to just assume that the register was displayed. It requires that Nigerians should be able to see it, interrogate it, dispute it and verify it.
That shouldn’t be controversial, especially with the 2027 election approaching.
It’s the law.
It’s transparency.
And that is the least that Nigerian voters deserve.
“We are not seeking any favour from INEC. We are requesting the Commission to follow the law and to have its compliance independently verified.” _
The writer can be reached at engrchukeze2014@gmail.com_
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