APP petitions INEC over suspected padding of voter register in Ikeduru
-Disclose one ward holds 17% of Ikeduru’s voters across 9% of its polling units — Party demands forensic audit before register certification on 15 December
The Action Peoples Party (APP) has lodged a formal protest with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) over what it describes as deliberately inflated figures in the 2026 Preliminary Register of Voters for the Ugirike/Okwu/Eziama Registration Area (16-08-10), Ikeduru LGA, Imo State.
The petition, addressed to the INEC National Chairman in Abuja and received by his office on 11 November 2026, was filed on behalf of the party and its candidate for Imo East Senatorial District, Dr. Chima Amadi.
What INEC’s own figures show
Drawing solely on INEC’s preliminary register for the nine LGAs of Owerri Zone, the party highlighted the following:
– 17% of voters across 9% of polling units: The ward has 21 of Ikeduru’s 227 polling units but accounts for 23,984 of its 141,427 registered voters.
– Double the average: Its polling units average 1,142 voters, compared with 570 across Ikeduru’s other 206 units.
– Bigger than the state capital: Eke Amaehi Village Square (16-08-10-021) records 3,117 voters, the highest figure among all 2,005 polling units in Owerri Zone. This is 932 more than the largest polling unit in Owerri Municipal, Urban Secondary School, which records 2,185.
– Bigger than larger wards: The ward has more voters than Uzoagba, Ikeduru’s next-largest ward, which has 16,014 voters across 30 units, and more than five times the number in Amatta, which has 4,551.
– Concentrated in Eziama: Within the same ward, the ten Ugirike and Okwu units average 601 voters, in line with the rest of the LGA. The six Eziama units average 1,640, while three further units (019–021) hold 6,901 voters between them. Eight of Ikeduru’s ten largest polling units are located in this ward.
“Neighbouring communities in a single ward do not differ by a factor of nearly three through honest registration,” the party said.
The APP noted that INEC itself acknowledged on 27 October 2026 that irregularities, including suspected AI-generated photographs, had been found during the public display of the preliminary register.
The APP’s demands
1. A forensic audit of every record in the registration area, starting with units 16-08-10-011 to 016 and 019 to 021, to be completed before the Final Register is certified on 15 December 2026.
2. Full biometric de-duplication, using fingerprints and facial recognition, against the national register, alongside verification of each registrant’s eligibility and residence.
3. Disclosure, for those nine units, of how many registrations were added during each phase of Continuous Voter Registration, when they were added, and the devices and officers involved.
4. Removal of every invalid record, with affected entries withheld from the certified register until the audit is complete.
5. Disciplinary action and prosecution for anyone found to have helped inflate the register.
6. Access for APP representatives to observe the audit, alongside a written response within 14 days.
“A padded register in one ward is a fraud on every genuine voter in the senatorial district, whatever party they support,” the party said. “The people of Imo East will not accept an election conducted on figures that cannot withstand scrutiny.”
The APP said it reserves the right to pursue every remedy available under the Constitution and the Electoral Act, 2026, if the objection is not resolved before certification.
*Signed:*
*Barr. Uchenna Nnadi*
National Chairman
*Abu Ibrahim Bossan*
National Secretary
*Action Peoples Party (APP)*
*Media enquiries:*
08038665895, 07035090420
actionpeoplesparty@gmail.com
www.actionpeoplesparty.com
