Despite the seeming delay in the passage of the amended Electoral Act currently before the National Assembly, the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC, has assured of its readiness for the 2027 general election.
INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, disclosed this on Wednesday in Abuja at a meeting with Civil Society Organisations (CSOs).
Amupitan conceded that some items in the schedule of activities could be impacted by the time the lawmakers pass the electoral act.
He, however, said for now, the commission has no choice than to rely on the subsisting Act for its activities.
Additionally, he disclosed that a review of the nation’s voters’ register showed that the names of several deceased Nigerians remain on the list currently used for elections.
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Therefore, he noted that INEC would soon commence a nationwide verification exercise to sanitise the register.
He explained that the planned verification is aimed at identifying and removing ineligible entries to improve the credibility and integrity of the electoral database.
“When we look at the Voters Register for Anambra state during the off cycle elections in November, we discovered that the number of registered voters stood at over 2.9m, but only about 600 came out to vote.
“This is just about 20 percent of the registered voters. So, we decided to take another look at the register and we discovered names of prominent Nigerian politicians who have died still on the register.
“That affects the integrity of the register and we have to do a clean up because we don’t expect the dead to come from the grave to vote,” Amupitan stated.
While he noted that INEC has made its submissions to the National Assembly, Amupitan conceded that some items in the schedule of activities could be impacted by the time the lawmakers pass the electoral act.
He, however, said for now, the commission has no choice than to rely on the subsisting Act for its activities.