Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has demanded a staggering sum of N1.5 billion from a law firm that requested a copy of the country’s national register of voters and polling units under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
In a letter dated October 13, 2025, and signed by the Secretary to the Commission, Rose Oriaran-Anthony, INEC said the payment represented the “cost of production” for compiling and releasing the requested data.
The letter, referenced INEC/VR/CTCGM/33464/1, and addressed to V-C Ottaokpukpu & Associates, partly read, “The Commission has approved your request for a copy of the National Register of Voters for the entire country and the existing Polling Units in all the Electoral Wards in Nigeria pursuant to Section 15 of the Electoral Act 2022.
“You are hereby requested to pay the sum of One Billion, Five Hundred and Five Million, Nine Hundred and One Thousand, Seven Hundred and Fifty Naira only (N1,505,901,750) being the cost of production of the above.”
The commission directed the firm to pay the money into INEC’s Remita Retrieval Reference (RRR) and provide proof of payment before the request could be processed.
“Kindly pay the said amount into INEC Remita Retrieval Reference (RRR) (www.remita.com) and present the proof of payment (e-receipt) in order to proceed with your request,” the letter added.
INEC’s national register of voters and polling unit data remain crucial for verifying alleged cases of multiple registration, ghost voters, and disproportionate polling unit allocations, issues that have persistently plagued Nigeria’s electoral credibility.
Despite repeated calls for open data and digital access to electoral information, INEC continues to restrict bulk data access, insisting that such requests involve “significant logistical and production costs.”
In 2021, INEC established a total of 56,872 new polling units in its expansion of the voter access drive.
Before this expansion, Nigeria had 119,974 polling units, a number that had remained unchanged since 1996. The addition of 56,872 new polling units brought the total to 176,846 polling units nationwide.
INEC had attempted to increase polling units several times since 1996, but those efforts were met with resistance or controversy. The 2021 expansion was the first successful attempt.
Many of the new polling units were created by converting existing voting points and voting point settlements, which had been used in previous elections to manage overcrowding.
The expansion aimed to reduce congestion, improve accessibility, and ensure a more efficient voting process, especially in densely populated areas.
