Former Kogi West Senator Dino Melaye has accused the Independent National Electoral Commission of secretly creating 453 new polling units without public disclosure. He said the action forms part of efforts to help the All Progressives Congress rig the 2027 elections.
Melaye made the claims during an appearance on Arise Television Prime Time on Monday November 3 2026. He is a chieftain of the African Democratic Congress and Deputy Director General of its campaign council. He stated that INEC staff continue to tell the media Nigeria has about 176846 polling units even though 453 more have been added in secret.
He contrasted the current situation with the 2021 expansion that added 56872 polling units after consultations with governors traditional rulers labour groups farmers associations and others. Those earlier units came from converting existing voting points. Melaye said the new units lack similar openness and asked why INEC would create them secretly if not for anticipatory rigging.
He said some of the new locations are concentrated in areas linked to particular individuals including parts of Lagos and Rivers states. He also referred to baby units in Kogi State that have only 10 to 15 registered voters and questioned the need for more units when some existing ones remain underpopulated.
On the voter register Melaye said photographs are repeated across different names with one photo appearing nine times under separate identities. His team conducted an integrity test that showed 89 percent AI imputation. He pointed to the polling unit of the Edo State governor which had just over 400 voters in the governorship election about two years ago. The preliminary register now lists more than 4000 voters there an increase of over 1000 percent. He said no major event in Edo explains the sharp rise.
Melaye added that INEC has broken the Electoral Act by failing to publish all voters lists within the required 90 days. He maintained that the ongoing cleanup process does not excuse missing the deadline and that the African Democratic Congress is considering court action. He described INEC as a law breaker that has damaged its integrity for running a transparent election.
INEC has stated that the current register is preliminary and subject to claims objections and corrections with the final certified register due on December 15 2026. Director of Information and Communication Technology Dr Lawrence Bayode noted that 268 records were flagged for suspected AI generated photos or other irregularities and that the Automated Biometric Identification System is being used to remove invalid entries. Some registration officers allegedly misused their access to introduce questionable records.
Melaye said his party will monitor the commission and the government closely throughout preparations for the elections.
