October 16, (THEWILL) — The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has clarified the basis for the N1.5 billion cost quoted for the issuance of Certified True Copies (CTCs) of the National Register of Voters and the full list of polling units across the country.
The clarification follows a request submitted on October 8, 2025, by Messrs V.C. Ottaokpukpu & Associates for CTCs of the National Register of Voters covering all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), as well as details of polling units in every electoral ward.
THEWILL reported earlier that INEC, in a letter dated October 13, 2025, approved the application. Signed by the Secretary to the Commission, Rose Oriaran-Anthony, it stated that the request was approved pursuant to Section 15 of the Electoral Act, 2022, which provides for access to electoral information. However, INEC directed the applicant to pay the sum of N1,505,901,750 (One Billion, Five Hundred and Five Million, Nine Hundred and One Thousand, Seven Hundred and Fifty Naira) as the cost of producing the documents. The Commission advised that payment be made through its official Remita Retrieval Reference (RRR) platform and that proof of payment be presented before processing the request.
Making clarification In a statement signed on Thursday, by Mrs Victoria Eta-Messi, Director of Voter Education and Publicity, the Commission explained that the charges were in line with Section 8(1) of the Freedom of Information Act, 2011, which allows public institutions to recover the “actual cost of document duplication and transcription.”
According to INEC, the computation also follows the Commission’s guidelines for the issuance of CTCs, derived from Section 15 of the Electoral Act 2022, which fixes the charge at N250 per page.
INEC further disclosed that the National Register of Voters currently contains 93,469,008 registered voters, with 16 voters per page, translating into 6,018,661 pages. In addition, the list of the country’s 176,848 polling units requires 4,946 pages, bringing the total to 6,023,607 pages. At the approved rate of N250 per page, the total sum amounts to N1,505,901,750.
The Commission stressed that the quoted cost reflects only the actual expenses incurred in duplication and transcription, without any additional or hidden charges.
INEC further reaffirmed commitment to transparency, accountability, and responsible management of public resources.
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