Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has explained why names of dead Nigerians are still on the voter register.
Yakubu said the inability of INEC to get adequate data on death in Nigeria has hampered it from taking away names of dead Nigerians from its register.
He stated this when he received Nasir Kwara, the Chairman of the National Population Commission, at the headquarters of the commission on Friday in Abuja.
Yakubu added that the commission had been periodically removing ineligible people and multiple registrants using technology but the technology cannot assist INEC to identify and remove dead persons from its record.
The INEC boss said, “Perhaps you may wish to start by availing us with the list of prominent Nigerians who have passed on, civil and public servants compiled from the official records of government Ministries, Departments and Agencies and other Nigerians from hospital and funeral records across the country.
“We appreciate that this is a herculean task but that’s partly why we have the National Population Commission. We’re confident that the NPC has the capacity to do so.
“This information is critical for INEC to enhance the credibility of the National Register of Voters”.