2027 Election Already Rigged — Seun Okinbaloye Raises Alarm Over Voters’ Register

Journalist and Channels Television presenter, Seun Okinbaloye, has raised concerns over the credibility of Nigeria’s 2027 general election, alleging that the process of manipulating the polls may have already begun through irregularities in the voters’ register.

Okinbaloye made the remarks during a closing commentary on Politics Today, warning Nigerians, political parties and other stakeholders not to wait until election day before demanding accountability from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

“The election is usually not rigged on election day. Don’t get it wrong. And whatever you may be, jumping around all of the town halls and the political podiums and platforms, the rigging of the election has in fact begun a few months ago. And it is still much on course,” he said.

He added: “If you don’t take action and speak up now, forget it. The 2027 election is already rigged. And this is the time to clean it up and make sure that it doesn’t happen.”

His comments come amid growing controversy over INEC’s preliminary Register of Voters, which contains more than 103 million entries and has attracted scrutiny over suspected artificial intelligence-generated photographs, duplicate records and other questionable entries.

INEC’s Director of Information and Communication Technology, Lawrence Bayode, disclosed that some registration officers had used their official access to introduce irregular records into the database. He said the commission’s Automated Biometric Identification System helped identify the questionable entries.

The commission has maintained that the register currently under scrutiny is preliminary and not the final certified voters’ register. It said verification, adjudication and data-cleanup exercises were ongoing ahead of the final certification scheduled for December 15, 2026.

INEC Chairman, Professor Joash Amupitan, also disclosed that the commission had received thousands of claims and objections concerning the preliminary register and assured Nigerians that valid complaints would be addressed before certification.

Okinbaloye’s warning has added to calls for greater transparency in the electoral process, with stakeholders demanding that INEC explain how questionable records entered the database and disclose the outcome of its investigations.

The journalist’s assertion that the election is already rigged reflects his assessment of the reported irregularities; it is not an established finding that the 2027 election has been manipulated. INEC says it is working to correct identified discrepancies before the final register is approved.