Media Rights Agenda (MRA) has condemned the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for  “attempting to frustrate a legitimate Freedom of Information (FOI) request by demanding an outrageous fee of over N1.5 billion for a copy of the National Register of Voters and list of polling units in Nigeria,” describing its demand as a blatant attempt to weaponise cost as a tool for denying access to vital public information.
 
Its Executive Director, Mr. Edetaen Ojo, in a statement, noted that the National Register of Voters and the list of polling units were arguably the most essential public records needed by civil society organisations, political parties, election observers, and the media to effectively monitor the electoral process, arguing that by placing such a colossal financial barrier in the way of a requester,  the electoral umpire “is deliberately hindering the public’s right and ability to scrutinise its operations, thereby compromising transparency and avoiding accountability.”
 
The statement followed a letter from INEC, dated October 13, 2025, and signed by Ms Rose Oriaran-Anthony, Secretary to the Commission, in response to an October 8, 2025 request filed by the law firm of V-C Ottackpukpu & Associates, in which it demanded the payment of N1,505,901,750.00 as cost of producing the Voters Register and list of all polling units in Nigeria as a condition for releasing the information.
 
Describing the charge as excessive, prohibitive and a clear violation of the spirit and letter of the FOI Act, Ojo said: “Section 8(1) of the FOI Act clearly stipulates that fees shall be limited to standard charges for document duplication and transcription, where necessary. The staggering amount of over N1.5 billion cannot be a standard charge for duplication, and is a clear and deliberate attempt to make public data inaccessible to the public. This is an affront to transparency and democratic accountability.”
 
He pointed out that in the exercise of his powers under the FOI Act, former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Mohammed Adoke (SAN), issued guidelines for public institutions on the Implementation of the Act, in which he stipulated the fees chargeable for duplication of records under the Act, limiting photocopy or scanning and printing to a maximum of N10 per page.
 
MRA argued that the list of 93,469,008 registered voters and the list of 176,846 polling units in the country could not number up to 150 million pages, for the cost of duplicating those lists to amount to over N1.5 billion at the legally permissible rate of fees.
 
Ojo noted that, in November 2017, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights adopted the Guidelines on Access to Information and Elections in Africa, as a soft law instrument to provide guidance to states on the categories of information on the electoral process that must, at a minimum, be proactively disclosed.

But INEC justified the N1.5 billion fee, stating the amount reflects only the actual cost of document duplication and transcription as required by law, and does not include any additional or hidden charges.
 
In a statement signed by its Director of Voter Education and Publicity, Victoria Eta-Messi,  yesterday day, the commission said the figure is strictly in accordance with Section 8(1) of the FOI Act, which allows public institutions to charge an amount representing the actual cost of document duplication and transcription. 

INEC disclosed that the National Register of Voters contains 93,469,008 registered voters spread across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), with 16 voters per page, and amounts to 6,018,661 pages.
 
It added that the list of 176,848 polling units across the country would require another 4,946 pages.