The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, says it has invalidated 2,103 double registrations from the Ekiti voter register ahead of the June 20, 2026 governorship election in the state.

INEC Chairman, Prof Joash Amupitan, disclosed this on Tuesday in Abuja during the commission’s second quarterly consultative meeting with leaders of political parties at its headquarters.

Amupitan stated that removal of the duplicate entries was part of INEC’s strict commitment to maintaining  integrity of the electoral process  as the country begins early preparations for the 2027 General Elections.

According to the chairman, the final Register of Voters for the Ekiti governorship poll now stands at 1,059,360.

“This figure reflects the addition of 66,664 new voters registered during the first and second phases of the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercises to the 2023 register of 987,647 voters.

“In line with our commitment to maintaining  integrity of the register, 2,103 registrations identified as cases of double registration were invalidated,” Amupitan said.

He assured stakeholders that logistics arrangements, deployment of election technology, training of officials, and security plans were progressing satisfactorily and on schedule for the election.

Amupitan expressed the commission’s commitment to opening of all 2,445 Polling Units across the 16 Local Government Areas of Ekiti at 8:30 a.m. on election day.

On the recently signed Peace Accord by political parties in the state, Amupitan urged party leaders to comply with the agreement.

“I urge political parties to ensure that its principles are fully internalised and observed by party officials, candidates, agents, and supporters throughout the electoral process,” he added.

The chairman maintained that the same operational standards, technological safeguards, and security frameworks being deployed in Ekiti would apply to the by-elections holding the same day across six states where vacancies had occurred.

The affected areas include Enugu North in Enugu state, Nasarawa North in Nasarawa-, Rivers South East in Rivers, and Ondo South Senatorial District in Ondo state;

Others are Dawakin Kudu/Warawa Federal Constituency in Kano state; and the Zuru state Constituency in Kebbi.

“Even as we finalise preparations for Ekiti, our attention is equally focused on the Osun  governorship election scheduled for Saturday, August 15.

“The timetable and schedule of activities for the election are already being implemented.

“I urge all political parties to comply strictly with the prescribed timelines and regulatory requirements.

The lessons learned from Ekiti will further strengthen our preparations and enhance the efficiency of our operations in Osun ,” he said.

The Independent Electoral Commission, INEC, has removed the names of Ahmed Yayari and Daniel Woyengikuro from its portal as Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, National Treasurer and National Financial Secretary, respectively.

A check by DAILY POST shows that both names have also been replaced with Odeyemi Mackson Oladiran and Eyim Donatus Henry as the new executives.

Yayari and Woyengikuro who are part of the Makinde-backed Turaki faction while Odeyemi and Eyim are members of the FCT Minister Nyesom Wike’s faction, which is also the recognised faction of the PDP.

INEC had earlier recognised Wike’s faction by putting the names of Abdulrahman Mohammed as the National Chairman and Samuel Anyanwu as the National Secretary, but had left the names of Yayari and Woyengikuro as part of the executives.

With the recent update on its portal, all executives of the PDP on INEC’s portal are now aligned with FCT Minister Nyesom Wike.

The Kwankwasiyya Movement has dismissed reports of the exclusion of of its members as candidates for the 2027 election by the Kano State chapter of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC.

Spokesperson for the group, Habibu Mohammed, made this rebuttal on Tuesday in an interview on Trust TV.

Mohammed said no candidates, including those from the Kwankwasiyya Movement and other groups, complained of exclusion.

“When there is contestation, naturally there are going to be a lot of issues with certain people that might not actually find their ways, but I believe that a process was built where consensus candidate emerged across the state, and within that particular process, there were never a candidate from anywhere that have complained of any kind of exclusion.

“All candidates, including those from the Kwankwasiyya Movement, and those who recently come from other political parties, partook into that process.

“We are seeing how other candidates that recently joined the party were part of the consensus, and the real aim is to actually ensure that candidates that have the capacity to win election, bring in votes and help the party develop are the ones that have emerged through that particular process.

“Until the end of the process, there were never any complaint from anybody, and to us, we believe that we have complied both with the party guidelines and at the same time with that of the INEC,” he said.