Former Postmaster-General Calls for Independent Audit of Voters’ Register

Ayodeji Ake

A former Postmaster-General of the Federation and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST), Bisi Adegbuyi, has called for an independent technical audit of Nigeria’s voters’ register to strengthen its accuracy, integrity and credibility ahead of future elections.
Adegbuyi said the proposed review should go beyond confirming voters’ identities to examine the accuracy of their locations, the consistency of registration records and the verifiability of information in the register.
He made the call in a statement yesterday  amid renewed concerns about the integrity of the voters’ register, including questions surrounding some voter records.
According to him, strengthening the electoral register requires as much attention to the accuracy of geographic data as to voter identification and the transmission of election results.

Adegbuyi recalled that he had proposed a technical framework on February 27, 2026, to modernise existing voter addresses without disrupting established electoral arrangements.

The framework recommended machine-assisted interpretation, geographic resolution and digital location referencing to improve the quality and reliability of voter-location data.

He said the proposed system could help electoral administrators detect inconsistencies, identify unusual concentrations of registrations in particular locations and improve the verification of polling-unit assignments.

Adegbuyi explained that the framework would complement existing electoral systems rather than replace Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) or biometric verification.
He said geographic verification could provide an additional layer of assurance by helping authorities establish whether the location information attached to voter records was accurate and consistent.
The renewed call comes amid concerns about questionable voter photographs and possible procedural lapses in the handling of voter information.
Adegbuyi, however, acknowledged that geographic verification alone would not resolve every issue relating to voter identity or data integrity.
He maintained that the approach could complement existing safeguards and help identify records requiring further investigation.
“Nigeria’s electoral infrastructure deserves a verification framework in which identity, geography, provenance and accountability reinforce one another,” he said.
The former NIPOST chief urged the relevant authorities to subject his earlier recommendations to an independent technical assessment to determine their feasibility and potential benefits.
He stressed that any review or implementation must comply with electoral laws, data-protection requirements and the statutory responsibilities of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Adegbuyi said the objective should be to improve the reliability of the voters’ register without undermining existing voter-identification and biometric verification arrangements.

He argued that the credibility of the register depended not only on establishing who was registered but also on confirming the accuracy and consistency of the information associated with each registration.

“The credibility of a voters’ register depends not only on who is registered, but also on whether the information associated with each registration is accurate, consistent and verifiable,” he said.
Under the proposed approach, geographic information would complement identity and biometric data as part of a broader framework for strengthening Nigeria’s electoral infrastructure.
Adegbuyi said the current concerns surrounding the register presented an opportunity to examine technical solutions that could enhance verification, transparency and accountability before future elections.