The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has approved a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for a certified true copy of Nigeria’s entire National Register of Voters and a comprehensive list of all existing polling units nationwide. However, the commission has stipulated a staggering production cost of ₦1,505,901,750 (One Billion, Five Hundred and Five Million, Nine Hundred and One Thousand, Seven Hundred and Fifty Naira) before releasing the documents.
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The request was submitted by V-C Ottaokpukpu & Associates, a law firm based at No. 30 Koforida Street, Wuse Zone 2, Abuja, led by Vincent Otaokpukpu, a legal practitioner and public affairs analyst. The firm’s letter, dated October 8, 2025, invoked the FOIA 2011 to demand the records, citing citizens’ rights to public information held by government agencies.
INEC’s response, dated October 13, 2025, and signed by Secretary to the Commission Rose Oriaran-Anthony, acknowledged the application and granted approval under Section 15 of the Electoral Act 2022. The letter emphasized the commission’s commitment to transparency and accountability, stating that the fee covers the “cost of production” of the materials. Applicants are directed to pay via INEC’s Remita Retrieval Reference (RRR) platform at www.remita.net and submit e-receipts to proceed.
Under the FOIA, public institutions must provide requested information within seven days, with fees limited to reasonable duplication and processing costs. Critics argue the quoted amount far exceeds these limits, potentially undermining the law’s intent to promote openness in governance. One observer noted on social media that the fee “contradicts both the Freedom of Information Act (which limits fees to duplication costs) and INEC’s own past practice, where state-level registers cost only a few hundred thousand naira.” Another user questioned the rationale for a physical certified true copy in an era of digital records, suggesting it could “enable and sustain fraud by this institution called INEC.”
Defenders of INEC’s position point out that the request specifies a “certified true copy,” which may necessitate physical printing and certification processes, ruling out a simple soft copy. “Processing a certified true copy requires physical copy(ies) of the document,” one commenter explained. Others dismissed the fee as “laughable,” questioning why the commission would incur such expenses for a single requester.
The development comes amid INEC’s ongoing Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise, which has seen over 6 million online pre-registrations since August 2025. The national voters’ register is a critical public asset, containing details of approximately 93 million eligible voters as of the 2023 general elections. While INEC maintains an online portal for individuals to check personal registration status at cvr.inecnigeria.org, full access to the aggregated database remains restricted.
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Neither INEC nor V-C Ottaokpukpu & Associates has issued further public statements on the matter as of Wednesday evening. Social media reactions range from outrage over perceived gatekeeping to calls for legal challenges, with one post quipping in Yoruba: “Pay N1.5bn on top Freedom of Information. Were la fi un wo were true true” – roughly translating to “We’ve seen what we’ve truly seen.”
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