Ezekwesili calls for citizens’ team to clean Nigeria’s voter register
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Leadership
Former Nigerian education minister Obiageli Ezekwesili is calling for an independent citizens’ team to take over the cleaning of the voter register after allegations of manipulation within the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). In a memorandum dated 3 November 2026, she said the commission could not investigate the irregularities itself, according to Leadership.
Obiageli “Oby” Ezekwesili, a former Nigerian education minister, is calling for an independent citizens’ team to clean up the voter register ahead of the 2027 general elections. In an open memorandum dated 3 November 2026, she said the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) could not investigate allegations of manipulation involving its own departments on its own.
Ezekwesili referred to statements by INEC’s director of information and communication technology, Lawrence Bayode, broadcast on television on 30 October and 1 November. According to her, he said officials had used their professional credentials to add artificial intelligence-generated photographs, duplicate records and other fictitious entries to the register in several states. She said INEC knew the origin of the irregularities and the people involved, but believed the commission had not made the information necessary for an independent investigation public.
The former minister said the anomalies could undermine the credibility of the 2027 election if they were not independently examined. She challenged the argument that the register was still only provisional, since it was to serve as the basis for the final register. The memorandum followed demands for explanations made on 2 November by two Nigerian groups about anomalies in the voter register.
