AnkaDede

President Tinubu has signed the Electoral Act 2026, and it removes certificate forgery as a ground for challenging election results at tribunals. Politicians can no longer be disqualified over fake credentials. But for hardworking Nigerians, submitting a fake certificate means job loss, blacklisting, and prosecution. For the political class, the rules are different. A double standard has been written into law, and the 2027 elections will be contested under this new reality.

The UK is "helping" INEC upgrade its computers for Nigeria's 2027 election, and that should worry you. Foreign money does not fix rigging; it rebrands it as a technical glitch. They did it in 2023, congratulating Tinubu while IReV crashed. The West wants stability, not change.

"Everyone is concerned, including the security agencies. So the security agencies are also making their own investigations," he said. He said INEC staff found to have been involved would face administrative or internal disciplinary action. Where a crime had been committed, he said, they would also be referred to the appropriate law enforcement agencies for prosecution. Asked about staff involvement, he said he had the list. "They are all staff of INEC, and we are taking some steps. We are not covering anything. What I told you today is the truth," he said. Prof. Amupitan said that whenever INEC saw issues raised on social media, it flagged them and checked them against the register. He said some of the cases circulating, such as one person's name appearing with a different person's picture, dated from earlier exercises and not from the current one. "Those that happen currently, that were able to have a digital log, digital evidence, must proceed against them," he said. Asked what guarantee existed against loopholes in the register, the Chairman pointed to Section 19 of the Electoral Act. "The law recognizes that there could be some form of imperfections. Mind you, we are managing over 100 million registered voters. So that is why there is this gap for complaint, objections, and claims," he said. He said the process was meant to bring such problems to light. "This process is supposed to expose some of the things we are seeing now," he said. Prof. Amupitan said the Commission had reviewed its ICT infrastructure and cybersecurity arrangements at Monday's meeting as part of preparations for the general election. He described the recent incidents as an early warning. "Sometimes when you see like this happen, you take it in good faith, because it's an early warning for you to be on your guard," he said. He said the Commission was taking important measures, "some of which we cannot begin to mention here." On early voting for journalists and others on election duty, including INEC officials, the Chairman acknowledged the desire to vote. "Everybody would like to vote, you want to exercise your franchise," he said. He said INEC had proposed early voting during the amendment of the Electoral Act, but it did not get the support of the National Assembly. "This is still not known to our law, but it's going to still be a process of advocacy to ensure that this is done," he said. He said he had taken up the matter after his appointment. "Hopefully it will be addressed one day," he said.

Prof. Amupitan said the Commission waited for the 14-day statutory period under Section 19(2) of the Electoral Act, 2026 to expire before responding. The Final Register of Voters is scheduled for publication on 15 December 2026, and he said final reconciliation, quality assurance and publication checks remain to ensure the approved changes are reflected. However, the chairman stressed that the clean-up does not resolve the wider problem. Most of the duplicate names and pictures circulating on social media, he said, relate to the old register covering 2011 to 2023. "Cleaning the register of only the 2025/2026 Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise alone will not solve the problem identified," he said, warning that the final list would still carry over duplications from 2011 to 2023. He explained that the current register evolved through successive registration and CVR exercises since 2011, using biometric and demographic data captured under "different technologies, operational arrangements and quality standards." He added that "significant historical integrity questions remain since 2011 and require a national, systematic response." The Commission, at its meeting on Monday, 9 November 2026, decided to address the duplications in the old register. Cases already flagged through complaints, along with obvious cases on the register, are to be removed after proper verification. INEC had announced a nationwide voter revalidation exercise in February 2026 but deferred it until after the elections, following stakeholder concerns about its proximity to the 2027 General Elections and its possible effect on voter participation. Prof. Amupitan said the postponement "did not suspend the Commission's existing mechanisms for maintaining the integrity of the Register," citing biometric screening, adjudication and statutory claims and objections. Responding to complaints from voters who said their names were omitted, the chairman said most of those affected registered between 2011 and 2023. Instead of transferring their registration to a new location, they registered again. ABIS voided those second registrations, but the names remain at their previous locations, and the affected voters were advised to check there. On Permanent Voter Cards, Prof. Amupitan said distribution of Phases 1 and 2 and of transferred PVCs is ongoing at LGAs nationwide. Some cards for the third and final phase are being delivered and will be dispatched to states by next week. From 1 December 2026, distribution will return to the Registration Areas. He appealed for patience from third-phase registrants, noting that the cards are produced outside the country. The chairman also assured Nigerians that Election Day safeguards would guard against multiple voting. Under the Standard Operating Procedures for Presiding Officers, and with the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), "every voter" must be physically present at their designated polling unit and pass biometric authentication by fingerprint or facial recognition. "The Commission remains committed both to removing confirmed invalid entries and to protecting eligible Nigerians from wrongful exclusion," he said, adding that INEC "will continue to communicate verifiable aggregate outcomes while protecting personal information and the integrity of ongoing investigations."