Atiku Abubakar has urged INEC to investigate alleged manipulation of Osun State’s voter registration numbers.
He warned that failure to act swiftly could undermine trust in Nigeria’s electoral process before 2027.
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to promptly investigate what he refers to as “manipulated” voter registration numbers in Osun State. He cautioned that inaction could erode public confidence in Nigeria’s electoral system.
Atiku’s media adviser, Mazi Paul Ibe, told Vanguard in Abuja on Thursday, August 28, that the former vice president was alarmed by the sharp disparity between Osun’s reported voter registration numbers and those of other states.
Figures released by INEC showed that Osun State recorded about 393,000 new voter registrations in just over a week of the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise.
In comparison, together, at least five other states reported fewer than 5,000 registrations during that same timeframe.
“Yes, His Excellency is, of course, concerned about it,” Ibe said. “Any attempt, any plan, or any agenda to inflate figures in particular states, or across the country, should be investigated. There should be an investigation so that no one is left in doubt and so that the figures published by INEC are seen as genuine, not contrived.”
Atiku emphasised that swift action is necessary to safeguard electoral integrity ahead of the 2027 general elections. “There is an urgency to this because what we are trying to do is to remove every obstacle that could undermine the integrity of the democratic process,” he added.
His call comes as the African Democratic Congress (ADC) also raised concerns, describing Osun’s voter registration figures as statistically implausible and demanding greater transparency from INEC.
