Anambra Election: NGO Expose Discrepancies In Registered Voters Figures Announced By INEC

By Joseph Sunday 

A Non Governmental Organization, KIMPACT Development Initiative, KDI, has uncovered discrepancies in the registered voters figures announced at different stages of the poll by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the last Anambra State governorship election. 

This was uncovered through a report, titled “Did the Numbers Tally?”, which was released by KDI, under its Ballot Integrity Project (BIP). 

One of the most significant findings was the use of three different registered voters during the same election cycle:

2,802,790 voters announced before the election, 2,788,864 voters cited at the state collation centre and 2,734,344 voters aggregated from polling unit forms on IReV. 

In addition, 412 polling units recorded mismatches in registered voter figures, the highest among recent off-cycle governorship elections reviewed by the organisation.

The report warns that inconsistent voter baselines complicate turnout calculations and reconciliation checks.

The audit also identified arithmetic inconsistencies in 635 polling units, where vote totals did not properly reconcile with valid votes or ballot usage figures.

This figure surpasses similar errors recorded in recent off-cycle polls in Imo, Edo, and Kogi states. The report attributes the problem to weak validation controls and recommends mandatory arithmetic safeguards before result submission.

In 752 polling units, accredited voters exceeded total votes cast, resulting in 13,428 missing or unaccounted ballots. At the state collation level, the audit found a further shortfall of 2,931 votes between accredited voters and total votes cast.

Additionally, 443 polling units were flagged for overvoting, with 6,467 excess votes recorded. Under Nigeria’s Electoral Act 2022, overvoting constitutes a statutory breach requiring cancellation.

Despite these discrepancies, the report concluded that the anomalies would not have altered the outcome, given the margin of victory of 323,219 votes.

It assessed polling-unit level results published on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Result Viewing Portal (IReV) following the November 8, 2025 off-cycle election.

According to the report, 98 percent of polling unit results were uploaded to IReV by midnight on election day, one of the strongest performances recorded in recent off-cycle governorship elections. 

Analysts reviewed 5,708 polling unit results, representing 99.9 percent of the uploads within one week of the election.

The high upload rate was described as a milestone in real-time result publication and transparency.

However, the audit found that improved visibility did not eliminate deeper administrative inconsistencies.

While the same party emerged as winner across all 21 local government areas in both IReV aggregation and official declarations, the report found numerical variations in vote totals between digital uploads and collation announcements.

These bidirectional differences, though not outcome-changing, point to reconciliation gaps between publication and formal declaration processes.

Using vote–turnout cluster analysis and other forensic statistical methods, the audit found no extreme concentration patterns suggesting systematic artificial vote inflation. Polling unit results showed dispersed voting patterns without suspicious peaks at near-total turnout levels.

The report emphasized that the major integrity concerns stemmed from administrative reconciliation weaknesses rather than statistical red flags.

The Ballot Integrity Project called on INEC to harmonise registered voters figures before election day, introduce automatic arithmetic validation in result forms, digitally enforce accreditation-to-vote reconciliation, standardise and publish cancellation documentation (Form EC40G) as well as release a post-election reconciliation report within 14 days of declaration.

The report concluded that while Nigeria has made progress in digital transparency, stronger controls in reconciliation, documentation, and numerical validation are necessary to reinforce public confidence ahead of future nationwide elections.