The African Democratic Congress has condemned the Independent National Electoral Commission’s planned voter revalidation exercise, describing it as a potential tool for voter suppression that could benefit the ruling party.
ADC National Publicity Secretary Bolaji Abdullahi raised the concerns in a series of posts on his official X handle on Wednesday, April 1, following reports of the exercise scheduled to begin on April 13.
Abdullahi questioned the authenticity of the memo announcing the exercise and demanded clarity from the electoral body.
“We call on @inecnigeria to immediately confirm to Nigerians whether this memo is genuine, and whether it indeed reflects an official plan of the Commission,” he said.
“If true, this development raises serious concerns and must be rejected outright as a recipe for chaos.”
The ADC spokesman warned that the exercise could worsen already low voter participation.
“At a time when voter apathy is at an all-time low, any policy like the ‘revalidation‘ exercise by @inecnigeria that adds new barriers to participation will only further suppress voter turnout,” Abdullahi said.
“And when turnout is suppressed, the credibility of the electoral process is inevitably called into question, and the only obvious beneficiary of such confusion is the ruling party.”
He criticised the manner in which Nigerians learnt about the exercise.
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“It is troubling that such a significant national exercise like the ‘revalidation’ by @inecnigeria is only coming to the attention of Nigerians through a leaked memo — just days before its implementation. For an exercise of this magnitude, Nigerians deserve transparency,” Abdullahi stated.
The ADC spokesman cautioned INEC against actions that could raise suspicions about its neutrality.
“@inecnigeria must be careful not to lend itself to accusations of helping the ruling party rig the elections before the votes are even cast,” he said.
Abdullahi questioned the timing of the exercise, arguing that it should have been conducted much earlier.
“If any voter ‘revalidation’ was ever required, it should have been conducted immediately after the 2023 general elections, not on the eve of the 2027 general elections,” he said.
He called on INEC to abandon the plan entirely. “The ADC therefore calls on @inecnigeria to abandon this plan and reassure Nigerians that no policy will be introduced at this critical time that could disenfranchise MILLIONS of voters or undermine confidence in the electoral process,” Abdullahi added.
INEC had announced that the nationwide voter revalidation exercise would commence on April 13, 2026, running through various phases at local government, registration area, and polling unit levels until May 29.
In a letter signed by Rose Oriaran-Anthony, secretary to the commission, resident electoral commissioners were directed to begin preparations, including recruiting personnel and setting up voter enrolment devices.
INEC Chairman Joash Amupitan had earlier said the exercise was necessary to address challenges with the national voters’ register, including duplicate registrations, underage registrations, registration by non-citizens, inclusion of deceased persons, and inaccurate records.
The register stood at 93,469,008 voters as of the 2023 general election.