The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says its inability to remove names of dead persons from the voter register is due to the absence of reliable data of births and deaths.
Festus Okoye, the commission’s National Commissioner and Chairman of its Information and Voter Education Committee made this known in an interview with Punch.
He said, “The commission displays the voter register for claims and objections but few Nigerians pay attention to the process. Nigerians must assist the commission to clean up the voter register by coming forward to point out deceased individuals or those that are not supposed to be in the voter register.
Secondly, the country does not have reliable data of births and deaths and the commission cannot engage in arbitrary removal of the names of individuals it suspects are deceased.
Our new software currently in use has been robust and has been detecting multiple registrants. We as a people and as a country must not condone and or connive in community aided and politically motivated under age registration. This commission is resolved and determined to prosecute all electoral infractions.”
Recall that in September 2021, the National Chairman of the commission, Mahmood Yakubu asked the National Population Commission to periodically furnish INEC with the data of deceased persons to enable it to update the voter register.
There had been allegations by some stakeholders that the voter register is faulty and riddled with multiple registrations.
The stakeholders argued that the register contains names of dead and underage persons.
