The Movement for Credible Elections (MCE) has criticised the proposed voter revalidation exercise by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), describing it as poorly timed and potentially harmful to the credibility of the 2027 general elections.
In a statement released on Sunday, the group’s Head of National Secretariat, Olawale Okunniyi, popularly known as Veteran Che, called on the electoral body to immediately suspend the planned exercise.
While acknowledging that updating the voters’ register could be a legitimate objective, MCE warned that implementing such a process less than nine months before a general election could overstretch INEC’s capacity and interfere with key pre-election preparations, including logistics, staff training, and voter education.
The group also raised concerns over what it described as inadequate public awareness about the exercise, cautioning that this could fuel suspicion and further erode public trust in the electoral system.
According to Okunniyi, the revalidation process could be open to abuse, with the potential to disenfranchise eligible voters under the guise of compliance. He argued that the absence of independent verification mechanisms means citizens would have to rely solely on INEC’s data, which, he warned, could be subject to manipulation.
MCE further questioned whether the limited timeframe would allow voters to exercise their rights to raise objections or correct discrepancies, suggesting that the move could inadvertently increase voter apathy.
The coalition also pointed out that the initiative departs from established electoral practices, noting that previous efforts to clean up the voter register did not require citizens to undergo fresh validation. It stressed that the Permanent Voter Card (PVC) was designed to be a long-term identification tool.
Concluding, the group urged INEC to halt the revalidation plan, strengthen the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration process, and prioritise transparency and stakeholder engagement to rebuild confidence in the electoral process.
MCE warned that introducing what it termed a “burdensome and questionable” exercise at a critical political moment could undermine the integrity of Nigeria’s democracy.