2027: Group Alleges Voters’ Register Padding In Okpebholo’s Unit

Two election monitoring groups have raised concerns over alleged padding of the voters’ register at a polling unit associated with Edo State Governor, Monday Okpebholo, ahead of the 2027 general elections, calling on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to explain a sharp increase in the number of registered voters.

The groups, MundX Analytics and Actizens Social Impact Foundation (ASIF), also identified Edo, Rivers, Sokoto, Katsina and Zamfara States as potential electoral flash points, alleging that the preliminary voters’ register contained fictitious names and other suspicious entries requiring independent scrutiny.

They raised the concerns at a joint press conference held at Don Ritz Hotel, Awka, Anambra State, on Friday, where they announced a national summit scheduled for November 30 to examine how citizens can preserve polling-unit results and other electoral evidence for use in election tribunals.

The summit is themed: “2027 Elections: Can Citizens Preserve Polling Unit Results As Evidence For Election Tribunals?”

Presenting a graphical analysis of INEC’s recently published preliminary voters’ register, Martin Uwakwe, representing MundX Analytics, said the polling unit associated with Okpebholo had 397 registered voters during the 2024 Edo State governorship election but now had 4,783 voters in the 2026 preliminary register.

According to him, the increase of 4,386 voters represents approximately 1,105 per cent.

Uwakwe questioned the circumstances surrounding the increase and called on INEC to provide a documented explanation of how the number of registered voters at the polling unit rose so sharply.

He also raised concerns over suspicious photographs in the register, including images alleged to have been generated using artificial intelligence.

He said that although INEC had acknowledged concerns about such photographs, their origins and authenticity still required investigation.

The groups called for an independent examination of the disputed entries to establish the facts and determine whether any irregularities had occurred.

MundX Analytics also examined records relating to the 2023 presidential election in Rivers State, highlighting what it described as contradictions between selected polling-unit records and figures associated with INEC’s declared results.

The organisation called for an independent review of the underlying records to establish the reasons for the reported discrepancies. It stressed, however, that its presentation did not constitute a judicial determination of electoral malpractice.

Earlier, the Executive Director of ASIF, Chidi Lucky Kanu, said Nigeria needed stronger mechanisms for preserving authentic polling-unit results to support independent verification and the lawful resolution of electoral disputes.

Kanu said the credibility of elections depended not only on voting and counting but also on the integrity of records available when results were challenged.

He introduced NGelectionPolls Election Monitor, ASIF’s citizen-powered election observation initiative designed to mobilise trained, non-partisan Eyewitness Reporters across polling units to observe electoral activities lawfully, document events and preserve authentic result-sheet evidence.

He emphasised that citizen-generated records must meet applicable legal requirements before they could be relied upon in election petitions. He also reaffirmed ASIF’s non-partisan status.

The organisations said the November 30 summit would bring together electoral candidates, legal practitioners, civil society organisations, faith-based institutions, media representatives and technology experts to examine legal and technological options for independently preserving polling-unit results.

Participants will also discuss the conditions under which such records could be useful in election tribunals. The summit will feature further technical examination of electoral records and demonstrations of the NGelectionPolls and MundX Analytics platforms.

Ahead of the summit, the groups said they would intensify stakeholder engagement, consult election-law practitioners and continue recruiting eligible voters interested in participating as Eyewitness Reporters, subject to training and INEC accreditation.

They urged INEC, political candidates, civil society organisations and Nigerians interested in credible elections to participate in efforts to address concerns about electoral data.

The organisations maintained that allegations involving the voters’ register should be resolved through transparent explanations and independent scrutiny.

The press conference ended with a call on voters to verify electoral records before elections, observe the voting process and preserve evidence after the counting of votes.

Their message was: “Before The Election – Verify The Voters. During The Election – Observe The Process. After The Counting – Preserve The Evidence.”

2027: Group Alleges Padding Of Voters Register In Edo Gov Okpebholo Polling Unit, Lists 5 Other States As Flash Points

Ahead of the 2027 general elections, two election monitoring groups have raised the alarm over alleged padding of the voters’ register in the polling unit of Edo State Governor, Monday Okpebholo, and listed five other states as flash points.

The groups, MundX Analytics and Actizens Social Impact Foundation (ASIF), alleged that the voters’ register has been manipulated with fictitious names in Edo, Rivers, Sokoto, Katsina and Zamfara, calling for independent scrutiny of electoral records.

They spoke at a joint Press conference held at Don Ritz Hotel, Awka, Anambra State, Friday during which they announced their proposed national summit on citizens’ role in preserving polling-unit evidence coming up end of this coming November.

According to the group, the central theme of the conference is: “2027 Elections: Can Citizens Preserve Polling Unit Results As Evidence For Election Tribunals?”

Presenting graphical analysis of INEC’s recently published preliminary voters’ register, Martin Uwakwe, representing MundX Analytics, said a polling unit associated with Governor Okpebholo had 397 registered voters during the 2024 governorship election but now has 4,783 voters in the 2026 preliminary register.

According to him, the increase of 4,386 voters represents about 1,105 percent.

Uwakwe questioned the circumstances surrounding the spike and called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to provide documented explanation.

He also raised concerns about suspicious voter photographs in the register, including images alleged to have been generated using artificial intelligence, noting that INEC had acknowledged concerns over such photographs but that their origin and authenticity still require investigation.

MundX Analytics also examined records relating to the 2023 presidential election in Rivers State, highlighting what it described as contradictions between selected polling-unit records and figures associated with INEC’s declared results.

The organisation called for an independent examination of the underlying records to establish reasons for the reported discrepancies, stressing that its presentation did not constitute a judicial determination of electoral malpractice.

Earlier, Executive Director of ASIF, Mr. Chidi Lucky Kanu, said Nigeria must strengthen mechanisms for preserving authentic polling-unit results for independent verification and lawful resolution of electoral disputes.

Kanu said the credibility of an election depends not only on voting and counting, but also on the integrity of records available when results are challenged.

He introduced NGelectionPolls Election Monitor, ASIF’s citizen-powered observation initiative designed to mobilise trained, non-partisan Eyewitness Reporters across polling units to lawfully observe, document activities and preserve authentic result-sheet evidence.

He emphasised that citizen-generated records must satisfy applicable legal requirements before they can be relied upon in election petitions, reaffirming ASIF’s non-partisan status.

The organisations said the November 30 summit will bring together electoral candidates, legal practitioners, civil society organisations, faith-based institutions, media representatives and technology experts to examine the legal and technological possibilities of independently preserving polling-unit results and the conditions under which such records may be useful at election tribunals.

The summit will also feature further technical examination of electoral records and demonstrations of NGelectionPolls and MundX Analytics platforms.

Ahead of the summit, both groups said they would intensify stakeholder engagement, consult election-law practitioners and continue recruitment of eligible voters interested in participating as Eyewitness Reporters, subject to training and INEC accreditation.

They urged INEC, candidates, civil society and Nigerians interested in credible elections to participate, maintaining that concerns about electoral data should be resolved through transparent explanations and independent scrutiny.

The conference ended with an administration to voters:“Before The Election – Verify The Voters. During The Election – Observe The Process. After The Counting – Preserve The Evidence”.