The Director of the Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre (PLAC), Clement Nwankwo, has questioned the credibility of Nigeria’s voter register ahead of the 2027 general election. He alleged that artificial intelligence-generated information and photographs have been inserted into the database.
Nwankwo spoke on Thursday in an interview with ARISE NEWS. He also raised concerns about the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) preparedness for the polls.
Jump in Registered Voters
He queried the rise in registered voters from over 90 million to 103 million. According to him, the figure may not reflect the number of eligible voters in the country.
“I think that we do not have 103 million persons who are eligible to vote in this country,” he said.
Nwankwo said civil society groups and individuals had used technological tools, including AI, to examine the register. In his words, the findings show “very serious problems.”
He said a new register before 2027 may no longer be feasible. However, he insisted the country must face the issue. “This country must come to terms with the fact that its current voter register has no credibility,” he said.
He also linked questionable entries to the continuous voter registration exercise. He said politicians and parties mobilised registrations in their constituencies when the window opened. He recalled that earlier registers, before 2010, also carried fake names such as Michael Jackson and Muhammad Ali.
Concerns Over INEC’s Preparations
Nwankwo faulted INEC’s communication with political parties. He said the commission was not briefing them on its activities or publishing information on its readiness.
He added that the commission’s threshold document shows lapses that may be hard to fix.
He also warned that many more Nigerians could be disenfranchised in 2027. He said INEC had not done enough to let voters transfer their voting units after relocating.
On the register itself, he said he had seen no evidence that INEC had told citizens how to file claims and objections after displaying it. The Electoral Act requires the commission to display the register 90 days before an election, for at least seven days. It must then take claims and objections and finalise the register at least 60 days before the polls.
He said technology should make the register easier to access on INEC’s portal. He added that nothing in the Electoral Act requires the commission to use AI.
No Support for Postponement
Nwankwo declined to back any postponement of the election, which is scheduled for January 16, 2027. He recalled that there had been a push to hold the polls in November. That plan fell through, he said, because the constitution allows elections only within a 30-to-150-day window.
He said earlier timetable changes had badly affected party primaries. He also doubted that more time would make INEC ready.
A last-minute postponement, he warned, would be “a serious breach of national security” and would hurt public confidence.
He cautioned that gaps in the process could be exploited to manipulate the outcome. “We don’t have a credible voter register going into 2027,” he said.
