Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has requested a quick probe into what he termed as ‘contrived’ voter registration data from Osun State, warning that if the anomaly is not rectified, the legitimacy of Nigeria’s electoral process will suffer.
His media adviser, Mazi Paul Ibe, told the press in Abuja on Thursday that Atiku was genuinely disturbed about the stark discrepancy between Osun’s fresh registration figures and those of several other states.
“Yes, His Excellency is, of course, concerned about it,” Ibe said.
According to figures issued by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Osun State registered almost 393,000 new voters in just over a week of the continuous voter registration operation.
In comparison, at least five other states recorded fewer than 5,000 new registrations over the same period.
“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,” Ibe warned.
He emphasised that swift action was vital to safeguard public confidence in the process ahead of the 2027 elections.
“That is important. It needs to be investigated without delay. 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 ahead of the 2027 general elections,” he said.
Atiku’s objections echo those previously made by the African Democratic Congress (ADC), which regarded the data as statistically improbable and questioned their reliability.
