2027: You Can’t Hide Voters’ Register and Expect Trust, Atiku Tells INEC

Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar has demanded the immediate publication of the preliminary voters’ register, warning that its absence from INEC’s online display during the announced October 9 to October 15 scrutiny period raises grave questions about the integrity of the 2027 election.

In a statement issued by Phrank Shaibu, Director of Strategic Communication of the ADC Presidential Campaign Council, Atiku said: “INEC has announced more than 103 million registered voters. Nigerians went to its portal to inspect the names and found an empty page. That is an outrage. A figure cannot answer an objection. A press announcement cannot tell a voter whether her name has been omitted. Show Nigerians the register.

“I cannot recall a more brazen invitation to distrust the voter register. INEC announced a seven-day exercise and then failed to make the register available on the portal provided for public scrutiny. Section 19(1) of the Electoral Act 2026 requires display at registration areas and online. INEC does not get to treat that requirement as optional.

“Worse still, INEC’s chairman reportedly said on October 5 that the public display had already been completed. Nigerians were subsequently told it would take place from October 9 to 15. Which statement is true? Where was the register published? For seven full days, or for no days at all? INEC must produce the dates, the links and the records of access.

“Section 63(2) of the Electoral Act 2026 permits a returning officer to count a ballot paper without INEC’s official mark if satisfied that it came from a book supplied to the polling unit. What evidence will establish that origin? Who will verify it, and how will parties challenge a false claim? Nigerians cannot be denied access to the voters’ register before election day and then be asked to accept unmarked ballot papers after voting. INEC must set out enforceable safeguards against counterfeit ballots, and the National Assembly must close any loophole that leaves the authenticity of a vote to an officer’s unsupported assurance.

“To date, INEC has yet to respond to inquiries about the identity of the companies awarded contracts to print sensitive election materials.

“The ADC and its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, are stakeholders in the upcoming presidential election and thus have the right to demand transparency from the electoral umpire about the protocols that will guide the election’s credibility.

“Let me address Bola Tinubu directly: Nigerians are struggling to put food on the table, and too many are afraid for their lives and livelihoods. You will not add an unseen voters’ register to their suffering and call it a route to another four years in office.

“You must face the people whose lives have become more expensive and less secure under your watch. You cannot hide their names from scrutiny and then ask them to trust the election conducted with that list. Nigerians have the right to inspect the register, challenge false entries and correct omissions. If that right is denied, we will challenge it in the open and through every lawful means available.

“INEC’s conduct has opened the door to manipulation and left Nigerians unable to check who has been added, who has been removed and whether their own names remain on the register. That door must be shut now. Publish the register by local government, area council and ward. Explain the conflicting dates. Give voters the full opportunity the law provides to challenge false entries and restore omitted names. Anything less is an assault on the credibility of the 2027 election.

“I call on Nigeria’s international partners, election observers and democratic institutions to press INEC publicly to comply with the law. Do not wait until election day to ask whether this contest is credible. Demand access to the voters’ register now. Ask how every ballot paper will be authenticated. Transparency before the vote is as essential as scrutiny of the results afterward.

“The right to vote begins with the right to know that your name is on the list. INEC must stop hiding behind a blank screen. Publish the register. Open it to scrutiny. Answer the country.”