The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) will begin a nationwide voter revalidation exercise on April 13, 2026, to update the voter register ahead of the 2027 general election.
A letter from INEC secretary Rose Oriaran-Anthony instructed all resident electoral commissioners to prepare personnel and INEC voter enrolment devices (IVED) for the exercise.
The revalidation will start at the Local Government Area (LGA) level from April 13 to May 2, move to registration areas (RA) from May 5 to May 11, and proceed to polling units (PUs) from May 13 to May 19. A second phase at the LGA level will run from May 20 to May 29.
Ahead of the rollout, INEC held a training-of-trainers workshop at The Electoral Institute on March 30 to prepare officials. Kunle Ajayi, chairman of TEI’s board, highlighted that “a credible election starts with a credible voter register” and stressed the importance of integrity in the register for public confidence.
INEC Chairman Prof. Joash O. Amupitan explained that the exercise addresses issues such as duplicate and underage registrations, registration of non-citizens, and inclusion of deceased persons, which continue to undermine trust in the electoral process.
“As of the 2023 general election, the register had 93,469,008 voters,” Amupitan noted, adding that maintaining a credible voter register is fundamental for free, fair, and transparent elections.