Abuja, Nigeria — Channels Television anchor Seun Okinbaloye on Sunday clarified his recent warning that the process of rigging Nigeria’s 2027 general elections had already begun, insisting the remarks targeted irregularities in the voters’ register and not any political party, candidate or sponsor.
Speaking on Sunday Politics, Okinbaloye addressed the backlash that followed his closing comments on Friday’s edition of Politics Today. He said his earlier statement had been widely misinterpreted.
“My warning named no political party, accused no candidate, and identified no sponsor,” Okinbaloye said. “It raised an alarm about irregularities that INEC itself has acknowledged, with its director of ICT attributing some of [them to] registration officials who had access to the system, and it says this is a preliminary register and corrections are underway.”
The controversy stems from the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) release of a preliminary voters’ register. INEC’s Director of Information and Communication Technology, Dr Lawrence Bayode, had disclosed that some registration officials used their official login credentials to introduce questionable records, including suspected AI-generated photographs, into the database. The commission detected the anomalies through its Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS) and described the published register as preliminary, with verification and cleanup ongoing.
Okinbaloye argued that such vulnerabilities represent early-stage electoral manipulation. He illustrated the risk with a hypothetical: a polling unit with 600 registered voters of which 400 entries proved fictitious. If Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) had already been issued against those entries and the accreditation system later defeated, the resulting votes would constitute clear electoral fraud.
“What would that represent other than electoral manipulation?” he asked. “The election was rigged long before now. Those who manipulated the register or are trying to game the register have no other mission than to rig the poll.”
He stressed that an election is not limited to voting day but spans months of preparatory processes. “Don’t forget, an election is not a voting day. The election is several weeks in the process and several months in the process,” he said. “A credible election begins with a credible voters’ register.”
Okinbaloye called on those angered by his remarks to redirect their energy toward fixing the identified problems rather than attacking the messenger. He said the ruling party, opposition parties, INEC and security agencies all have a stake in addressing the issues. He demanded a comprehensive investigation, an independent audit of the register, public disclosure of those responsible, removal of invalid entries, protection of legitimate voters, and accountability for anyone found to have deliberately manipulated the process—regardless of political affiliation.
“My message targets no party or individual. It calls everyone to a shared responsibility. Let us think deeply, examine the evidence, and roll up our sleeves now,” he said. “Those angered or unsettled by my remarks should redirect that anger towards fixing the problem.”
INEC has said the ongoing display, claims and objections exercise allows the public to scrutinise the register and report inaccuracies. The commission aims to complete verification, adjudication and data cleanup before certifying the final Register of Voters on December 15, 2026.
The clarification has drawn mixed reactions online. Some Nigerians praised Okinbaloye for highlighting threats to electoral integrity and called for greater accountability from INEC. Others accused him of damage control, arguing that declaring the election “already rigged” without naming perpetrators was irresponsible or politically directed, particularly at those organising town-hall meetings.
The episode adds to growing public scrutiny of the 2027 electoral preparations amid concerns over the integrity of the voters’ register.
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