The Independent National Electoral Commission has uploaded the preliminary register of voters for the 2027 general election to its online platform, days after the statutory deadline for the publication passed and amid mounting public pressure.
Section 19(1) of the Electoral Act, 2026 requires the commission to make copies of the voters’ register available for public scrutiny, on its website as well as at every registration area, for a period of seven days, not later than 90 days before a general election. With voting due to begin on January 16, 2027, that deadline fell on October 18, 2026. The physical display was conducted at registration areas nationwide from October 9 to 15, within the window, but the register was not on the commission’s website by the cut-off.
The commission acknowledged the gap in a statement issued on Monday by the Chairman of its Information and Voter Education Committee, National Commissioner Mohammed Kudu Haruna, which said the register is now accessible at https://display.inecnigeria.org.
“Accordingly, and in furtherance of its commitment to transparency, accessibility and public confidence in the electoral process, the commission has decided to make available on its online platform” the register, the statement read, adding that INEC had “taken note of concerns expressed by Nigerians and stakeholders about the need to make the register available online in addition to the physical display already conducted at registration areas.”
The missing online component had been flagged by civic actors and newsrooms in the days before the publication. The Foundation for Investigative Journalism highlighted the omission, and electoral governance advocate Sam Itodo argued on a national television programme that the commission was legally bound to publish the register online, citing the claims and objections requirement that such scrutiny happen not later than 90 days before the poll. INEC did not address the deadline question directly in its statement, but the online publication extends the inspection period by more than six weeks, from Monday’s announcement to the December 15 certification.
The register itself has grown sharply. INEC Chairman, Professor Amupitan, said the three-phase continuous voter registration exercise captured over 10.6 million new applicants, taking the national register to about 103 million voters. The first phase, held from August 25 to December 10, 2025, recorded 2,611,266 registrations, and the second, from January 5 to April 17, 2026, produced 4,121,835, figures the commission released as the exercise progressed. The third phase ran from May 11 until the exercise closed in July 2026. By comparison, the register stood at 93.4 million voters for the 2023 general election, according to INEC’s figures at the time, so the 2027 electorate is on course to be the largest in the country’s history.
The commission said the online publication, which contains the same list displayed at registration areas, is intended to enable more Nigerians to inspect their particulars. The physical display was carried out under Section 19 of the Electoral Act, 2026, allowing registered voters to check their details, including names and polling units, and to submit claims and objections where errors or omissions were found.
INEC said it is still processing claims and objections arising from the exercise, ahead of the certification and publication of the final register of voters on December 15, 2026, one month before the poll. The commission also began the issuance of new permanent voter cards on October 9, the day the physical display opened, meaning collection of cards and scrutiny of the register are running in parallel.
The stakes are considerable. The register determines eligibility for an election in which incumbents and opposition parties are already campaigning, and disputes over voter records have historically fed post-election litigation. An accessible preliminary register gives parties, agents and observers time to identify inflated or defective entries before the list is certified, rather than after votes have been cast.
INEC urged Nigerians and stakeholders to continue engaging with the process, reiterating its commitment to implementing the Electoral Act, 2026, and delivering credible elections. The late online publication, coming after the statutory window had passed, will nonetheless remain a point of scrutiny for election observers assessing the commission’s compliance with its own legal framework.