SNOW TV NEWS DESK
Former Director of Voter and Publicity Education at the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Oluwole Osaze-Uzzi, has raised serious concerns over the discovery of 1.5 million questionable entries in Nigeria’s voter register, questioning how such a large number of irregular records could have escaped the commission’s verification systems.
Speaking during an interview on Arise Television, Osaze-Uzzi said the development was difficult to understand, given the biometric technology and other safeguards INEC has introduced over the years to prevent multiple registrations and protect the credibility of the electoral database.
According to him, voter registration should be a straightforward exercise because the law clearly establishes who qualifies to vote in Nigeria. Eligible voters must be Nigerian citizens, at least 18 years old, and physically present themselves for registration and biometric capturing.
He argued that with these basic requirements and the technology available to the commission, the emergence of 1.5 million questionable records raises fundamental questions about the effectiveness of INEC’s registration and verification processes.
“I don’t know how up to 1.5 million entries can be made in the register. You’ve heard of AI. You’ve heard of multiple registrants. That ought not to be with things that have been put in place by the commission,” he said.
However, beyond questioning how the irregularities occurred, the former INEC official believes the commission must provide more details about the exercise to allow Nigerians to properly understand the scale of the problem.
He specifically questioned whether the review covered only the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise conducted last year or involved a comprehensive examination of the voter database dating back to the initial registration exercise in 2011.
Osaze-Uzzi also pointed to the Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS), which allows biometric records to be compared across different locations, as an important tool for identifying individuals who may have registered multiple times.
He noted that artificial intelligence could also play a significant role in detecting suspicious entries, particularly as INEC’s Director of Information and Communication Technology had reportedly acknowledged the use of such technology.
Although INEC has reportedly removed about 1.2 million questionable records, Osaze-Uzzi insists that the more important issue is understanding how they entered the system in the first place.
His concerns touch on a critical issue ahead of Nigeria’s future elections: the credibility of the voters’ register. An accurate register is essential to ensuring that elections reflect the genuine choices of eligible voters and that public confidence in the electoral process is not undermined.
Ultimately, cleaning up the database is important, but Nigerians also deserve answers about the loopholes that allowed the questionable records to exist. For INEC Chairman Joash Amupitan and his team, transparency over the discovery and the measures being taken to prevent a recurrence will be crucial in restoring confidence in the commission’s electoral preparations.
“Sir Bartholomew White Ebe is a Lagos-based media personality, Music Artist, Producer, and a Relationship Coach and independent journalist. With over seven years of experience tracking political developments and cultural shifts in Nigeria, he specializes in local current affairs, grassroots politics, and community-driven reporting across Lagos State. As the founder and chief editor of Snow Multimedia Connect {SNOW TV}, he leads the editorial team to deliver verified, high-impact stories to digital audiences.”
Email: snowmediaconnect@gmail.com
