The Foundation for Environmental Rights, Advocacy and Development (FENRAD) has raised concern over alleged irregularities and possible manipulation of Nigeria’s voters’ register ahead of the 2027 general elections.
FENRAD, a human rights and public accountability watchdog, expressed the concern in a press release issued on Saturday, November 1, 2026, in Abuja and signed by its Executive Director, Comrade Nelson Nnanna Nwafor.
The group said its concern follows recent public warnings by Channels Television journalist, Seun Okinbaloye, who reportedly raised questions about the integrity of the voters’ register during a broadcast of Politics Today.
According to FENRAD, the allegations reportedly include underage registration, multiple registrations, fictitious voter entries and the possible inclusion of ineligible persons in the electoral database.
The organisation noted that while the allegations require independent verification and should not be treated as established facts without credible evidence, they are sufficiently serious to warrant immediate attention from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), political stakeholders, civil society organisations and the Nigerian public.
“For us, the integrity of an election is not determined exclusively by what happens at polling stations on election day. It begins with the credibility of the institutions, processes and databases upon which the entire electoral exercise rests,” the group said.
FENRAD warned that a compromised voters’ register, if established, could undermine the principle of equal suffrage, distort electoral representation, weaken public confidence and expose the democratic process to avoidable manipulation.
The organisation listed five areas of concern to include: integrity of voter registration and whether adequate safeguards exist to prevent underage and fictitious entries; multiple registration and whether INEC’s verification systems are robust enough to identify duplicates without disenfranchising legitimate voters; institutional accountability of officials found culpable; transparency and public confidence and whether Nigerians have sufficient access to scrutinise the preliminary register; and electoral credibility and whether INEC is taking proactive measures to ensure the 2027 process is beyond reasonable suspicion.
To address the concerns, FENRAD called on INEC to undertake an independent forensic audit of the voters’ register, with particular attention to suspicious entries, duplicate records, underage registration and fictitious identities.
It also demanded that INEC publish comprehensive findings of its verification exercises, including the nature and scale of identified irregularities and corrective measures taken.
Other demands include strengthening public verification mechanisms to allow citizens, political parties, observers and civil society organisations to meaningfully participate in the verification and objection process, investigating and sanctioning wrongdoing where deliberate manipulation is established, protecting eligible voters from disenfranchisement during any clean-up exercise, and engaging civil society and independent observers to strengthen transparency.
FENRAD reiterated that credible elections are fundamental to democratic governance, institutional legitimacy, environmental justice, human rights and sustainable development, stressing that the relationship between environmental sustainability and democratic accountability cannot be ignored.
The group said Nigeria cannot afford another cycle of avoidable electoral controversies and urged INEC to treat the concerns with urgency and provide verifiable assurances that the voters’ register is accurate, credible and protected against manipulation.
It also called on Nigerians to remain vigilant, exercise their democratic rights responsibly and report credible evidence of electoral irregularities through appropriate lawful channels.
