Media Rights Agenda (MRA) has strongly condemned the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for demanding over ₦1.5 billion to provide a copy of Nigeria’s National Register of Voters and the list of polling units. The group described the demand as an attempt to block public access to crucial electoral information through exorbitant costs.

In a statement released on Thursday, MRA’s Executive Director, Edetaen Ojo, criticized the move as a “blatant attempt to weaponize cost as a tool for denying access to vital public information.” He noted that such essential data should be freely accessible to civil society groups, political parties, election observers, and the media for effective monitoring of elections.

Ojo’s statement followed an INEC letter dated October 31, 2025, signed by its Secretary, Rose Oriaran Anthony, requesting ₦1,505,901,750 from a law firm that had made a Freedom of Information (FOI) request for the documents. He argued that the fee is “excessive, illegal, and in violation of the FOI Act,” which limits charges to only the cost of duplication and transcription.

Citing the FOI guidelines issued by former Attorney-General Mohammed Adoke (SAN), Ojo noted that copying and printing costs should not exceed ₦10 per page, stressing that even the entire list of Nigeria’s 93 million voters and 176,846 polling units could not justify such an amount. He also referred to the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights Guidelines on Access to Information and Elections, which require election bodies to proactively publish such data.

MRA therefore urged INEC to withdraw the outrageous demand and release the requested information free of charge or at a reasonable cost. Ojo warned that allowing such practices could encourage other government agencies to impose arbitrary fees, thereby undermining transparency, public trust, and Nigeria’s accountability framework.