The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), yesterday, declared that a total of 1,059,360 voters have been registered for the June 20, 2026 governorship election in Ekiti State, assuring political parties and residents of a free, fair and credible electoral process.
The announcement was made in Ado Ekiti during the official visit of the INEC National Chairman, Professor Joash Ojo Amupitan, SAN, alongside National Commissioners, for a readiness assessment and the formal publication and presentation of the voters register to political parties ahead of the poll.
Speaking at the event, Amupitan described the presentation of the register as a major constitutional and statutory requirement aimed at strengthening transparency and integrity in the electoral process.
According to him, the voters register represented the foundation upon, which credible elections were built, stressing that the commission had carried out rigorous verification and cleaning exercises to eliminate irregularities, including duplicate registrations.
He disclosed that the current figure represented an increase of about 66,000 voters compared to previous records, noting that over 68,000 new registrations were initially recorded during the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise before more than 2,000 duplicate entries were removed through the Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS).
“Today, we are pleased to present a comprehensive and meticulously compiled voters register prepared after rigorous data collection, verification and diligent cleaning exercise. The integrity of the register is critical to the credibility of the election,” he said.
The INEC chairman revealed that seven out of the nine major activities outlined in the timetable for the Ekiti governorship election had already been completed, adding that the remaining activities include the end of campaigns and the conduct of the election itself.
Amupitan assured stakeholders that the commission would deploy technology effectively to guarantee transparency, saying lessons from recent elections, particularly in Anambra and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), had strengthened public confidence in the electoral process.
He maintained that votes would count in Ekiti, urging eligible voters to come out en masse on election day.
“I want to assure you that your votes will count. During the last Anambra election under my watch, results were transmitted promptly and transparently. By 7 p.m. on election day, about 93 per cent of the results had already been uploaded to the IReV portal,” he stated.
The INEC boss also warned political parties against vote buying and other electoral offences, describing vote trading as a major threat to Nigeria’s democracy.
He noted that security and anti-corruption agencies, including the police, EFCC and ICPC, would be expected to arrest and prosecute offenders.
Amupitan further announced that political parties would sign a peace accord ahead of the election, urging candidates and their supporters to focus campaigns on issues rather than attacks or divisive rhetoric.
Earlier, the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in thestate, Dr. Bunmi Omoseyindemi, said the commission had intensified preparations for the election through collaboration with security agencies, political parties, traditional institutions, civil society organisations and the media.
He explained that assessment and verification of Registration Area Centres (RACs), Super RACs and collation centres across the state had been completed, while training and retraining of electoral personnel were ongoing.
According to him, INEC had also strengthened logistics, transportation, voter education and election technology deployment, including the BVAS machines, to ensure a seamless electoral process.
Omoseyindemi added that voter sensitisation campaigns had been expanded across the 16 local government areas to tackle misinformation, voter apathy and election-related tension.
National Commissioner supervising Ekiti, Lagos and Oyo States, Mr. Sam Olumekun, described the publication of the register as a crucial milestone in preparations for the election.
He said the register emerged from extensive Continuous Voter Registration exercises, public display for claims and objections, as well as data cleaning processes to remove duplicate, deceased and ineligible registrants.
Olumekun urged political parties and stakeholders to carefully scrutinise the register and engage constructively with the electoral process, stressing that the credibility of the election begins with the credibility of the voters register.
Gbenga Sodeinde
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