Two election monitoring teams have raised issues over alleged padding of the voters’ register at a polling unit related to Edo State Governor, Monday Okpebholo, forward of the 2027 normal elections, calling on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to elucidate a pointy enhance within the variety of registered voters.
The teams, MundX Analytics and Actizens Social Impact Foundation (ASIF), additionally recognized Edo, Rivers, Sokoto, Katsina and Zamfara States as potential electoral flash factors, alleging that the preliminary voters’ register contained fictitious names and different suspicious entries requiring impartial scrutiny.
They raised the issues at a joint press convention held at Don Ritz Hotel, Awka, Anambra State, on Friday, the place they introduced a nationwide summit scheduled for November 30 to look at how residents can protect polling-unit outcomes and different electoral proof to be used in election tribunals.
The summit is themed: “2027 Elections: Can Citizens Preserve Polling Unit Results As Evidence For Election Tribunals?”
Presenting a graphical evaluation of INEC’s lately revealed preliminary voters’ register, Martin Uwakwe, representing MundX Analytics, mentioned the polling unit related to Okpebholo had 397 registered voters in the course of the 2024 Edo State governorship election however now had 4,783 voters within the 2026 preliminary register.
According to him, the rise of 4,386 voters represents roughly 1,105 per cent.
Uwakwe questioned the circumstances surrounding the rise and referred to as on INEC to offer a documented clarification of how the variety of registered voters on the polling unit rose so sharply.
He additionally raised issues over suspicious images within the register, together with pictures alleged to have been generated utilizing synthetic intelligence.
He mentioned that though INEC had acknowledged issues about such images, their origins and authenticity nonetheless required investigation.
The teams referred to as for an impartial examination of the disputed entries to ascertain the details and decide whether or not any irregularities had occurred.
MundX Analytics additionally examined data regarding the 2023 presidential election in Rivers State, highlighting what it described as contradictions between chosen polling-unit data and figures related to INEC’s declared outcomes.
The organisation referred to as for an impartial evaluate of the underlying data to ascertain the explanations for the reported discrepancies. It careworn, nonetheless, that its presentation didn’t represent a judicial willpower of electoral malpractice.
Earlier, the Executive Director of ASIF, Chidi Lucky Kanu, mentioned Nigeria wanted stronger mechanisms for preserving genuine polling-unit outcomes to help impartial verification and the lawful decision of electoral disputes.
Kanu mentioned the credibility of elections depended not solely on voting and counting but additionally on the integrity of data obtainable when outcomes had been challenged.
He launched NGelectionPolls Election Monitor, ASIF’s citizen-powered election commentary initiative designed to mobilise skilled, non-partisan Eyewitness Reporters throughout polling models to watch electoral actions lawfully, doc occasions and protect genuine result-sheet proof.
He emphasised that citizen-generated data should meet relevant authorized necessities earlier than they might be relied upon in election petitions. He additionally reaffirmed ASIF’s non-partisan standing.
The organisations mentioned the November 30 summit would convey collectively electoral candidates, authorized practitioners, civil society organisations, faith-based establishments, media representatives and expertise specialists to look at authorized and technological choices for independently preserving polling-unit outcomes.
Participants may even focus on the situations beneath which such data might be helpful in election tribunals. The summit will characteristic additional technical examination of electoral data and demonstrations of the NGelectionPolls and MundX Analytics platforms.
Ahead of the summit, the teams mentioned they’d intensify stakeholder engagement, seek the advice of election-law practitioners and proceed recruiting eligible voters involved in collaborating as Eyewitness Reporters, topic to coaching and INEC accreditation.
They urged INEC, political candidates, civil society organisations and Nigerians involved in credible elections to take part in efforts to deal with issues about electoral knowledge.
The organisations maintained that allegations involving the voters’ register must be resolved via clear explanations and impartial scrutiny.
The press convention ended with a name on voters to confirm electoral data earlier than elections, observe the voting course of and protect proof 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 normal elections, two election monitoring teams have raised the alarm over alleged padding of the voters’ register within the polling unit of Edo State Governor, Monday Okpebholo, and listed 5 different states as flash factors.
The teams, 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 impartial scrutiny of electoral data.
They spoke at a joint Press convention held at Don Ritz Hotel, Awka, Anambra State, Friday throughout which they introduced their proposed nationwide summit on residents’ position in preserving polling-unit proof developing finish of this coming November.
According to the group, the central theme of the convention is: “2027 Elections: Can Citizens Preserve Polling Unit Results As Evidence For Election Tribunals?”
Presenting graphical evaluation of INEC’s lately revealed preliminary voters’ register, Martin Uwakwe, representing MundX Analytics, mentioned a polling unit related to Governor Okpebholo had 397 registered voters in the course of the 2024 governorship election however now has 4,783 voters within the 2026 preliminary register.
According to him, the rise of 4,386 voters represents about 1,105 %.
Uwakwe questioned the circumstances surrounding the spike and referred to as on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to offer documented clarification.
He additionally raised issues about suspicious voter images within the register, together with pictures alleged to have been generated utilizing synthetic intelligence, noting that INEC had acknowledged issues over such images however that their origin and authenticity nonetheless require investigation.
MundX Analytics additionally examined data regarding the 2023 presidential election in Rivers State, highlighting what it described as contradictions between chosen polling-unit data and figures related to INEC’s declared outcomes.
The organisation referred to as for an impartial examination of the underlying data to ascertain causes for the reported discrepancies, stressing that its presentation didn’t represent a judicial willpower of electoral malpractice.
Earlier, Executive Director of ASIF, Mr. Chidi Lucky Kanu, mentioned Nigeria should strengthen mechanisms for preserving genuine polling-unit outcomes for impartial verification and lawful decision of electoral disputes.
Kanu mentioned the credibility of an election relies upon not solely on voting and counting, but additionally on the integrity of data obtainable when outcomes are challenged.
He launched NGelectionPolls Election Monitor, ASIF’s citizen-powered commentary initiative designed to mobilise skilled, non-partisan Eyewitness Reporters throughout polling models to lawfully observe, doc actions and protect genuine result-sheet proof.
He emphasised that citizen-generated data should fulfill relevant authorized necessities earlier than they are often relied upon in election petitions, reaffirming ASIF’s non-partisan standing.
The organisations mentioned the November 30 summit will convey collectively electoral candidates, authorized practitioners, civil society organisations, faith-based establishments, media representatives and expertise specialists to look at the authorized and technological potentialities of independently preserving polling-unit outcomes and the situations beneath which such data could also be helpful at election tribunals.
The summit may even characteristic additional technical examination of electoral data and demonstrations of NGelectionPolls and MundX Analytics platforms.
Ahead of the summit, each teams mentioned they’d intensify stakeholder engagement, seek the advice of election-law practitioners and proceed recruitment of eligible voters involved in collaborating as Eyewitness Reporters, topic to coaching and INEC accreditation.
They urged INEC, candidates, civil society and Nigerians involved in credible elections to take part, sustaining that issues about electoral knowledge must be resolved via clear explanations and impartial scrutiny.
The convention ended with an administration to voters:“Before The Election – Verify The Voters. During The Election – Observe The Process. After The Counting – Preserve The Evidence”.
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