The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has rejected allegations by the African Democratic Congress (ADC) that the recently released voter registration figures from the Southwest were inflated.
INEC had announced that more than 1.3 million Nigerians completed online pre-registration within the first week of the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise, with Osun State alone recording 393,269 registrations.
The ADC, in a statement by its spokesperson, Bolaji Abdullahi, described the figures as “statistically implausible,” insisting that Osun’s numbers did not align with historical patterns or demographic realities.
Responding on Thursday, Rotimi Oyekanmi, Chief Press Secretary to INEC Chairman Mahmood Yakubu, said there was “nothing extraordinary” about the data. He explained that Osun State also led the country in online registrations when the portal was first launched in 2021, adding that the trend has been consistent across past exercises.
According to Oyekanmi, records showed that Osun recorded 154,893 pre-registrations within two weeks in 2021 and eventually surpassed 708,000 registrations by April 2022. He stressed that the figures now being reported followed a familiar pattern.
INEC further noted that its Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS) is in place to eliminate multiple registrations and that all entries would be subjected to verification during and after the exercise.
The commission urged political parties and stakeholders to rely on verifiable official data rather than speculation.