The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has removed more than 1.6 million invalid registrations from Nigeria’s preliminary voters’ register and identified 54 officials across 10 states for disciplinary action, including possible prosecution, ahead of the 2027 general elections.
INEC Chairman, Professor Joash Amupitan, disclosed the development during a press briefing in Abuja on Monday, November 9, while presenting the outcome of the commission’s review of the preliminary register of voters.
According to the commission, a total of 1,608,660 confirmed invalid registrations were removed following a verification exercise involving biometric screening, public complaints and further investigations. An additional 873 records belonging to verified deceased persons were also removed.
The exercise followed public concerns over suspicious entries in the preliminary voters’ register, including duplicate registrations, unusual names, manipulated photographs, suspected artificial intelligence-generated images and records of deceased individuals.
How INEC Identified the Irregularities
Amupitan explained that INEC harvested 11,088,238 registration records from the three phases of the 2025/2026 Continuous Voter Registration exercise.
The records were screened using the Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS), which initially flagged 1,545,052 entries for further examination.
He clarified that being flagged by the automated system did not automatically make a registration invalid, as each case required further assessment and authorised adjudication.
Before the preliminary register was published, 1,277,052 registrations had already been confirmed invalid and excluded.
Following the public display of the preliminary register between October 9 and 15, another 268,000 cases were examined. Of these, 217,722 were confirmed invalid, while 50,278 were cleared and retained.
Additional screening identified another 113,886 invalid registrations, bringing the total number of invalid entries removed to 1,608,660.
54 Officials Face Disciplinary Action
Beyond cleaning the register, INEC disclosed that its investigation uncovered instances in which some registration personnel allegedly bypassed established procedures and misused provisions designed to accommodate exceptional registration circumstances, including those involving persons with disabilities.
The commission identified 54 individuals across 10 states as allegedly involved in the irregularities.
Amupitan said the affected records had been reviewed and corrected, while the officials identified would face appropriate administrative and disciplinary processes, including possible prosecution.
INEC also announced plans to strengthen its registration procedures through improved biometric capture, authentication and verification safeguards to prevent similar incidents in future registration exercises.
Historical Duplications Remain a Concern
The INEC chairman cautioned that the latest clean-up exercise did not resolve every integrity concern surrounding the national voters’ register.
He explained that some of the suspicious names, photographs and duplicate entries circulating on social media originated from registration exercises conducted between 2011 and 2023.
According to him, the national register has evolved through several registration exercises involving different technologies and operational procedures, leaving historical data-quality concerns that require further attention.
The commission also addressed complaints from voters who could not find their names at their current registration locations.
Amupitan said many affected individuals had previously registered in other locations but subsequently registered again instead of formally transferring their voter registration. The biometric system identified the newer registrations as duplicates, while their original records remained at their former locations.
He advised affected voters to check their previous registration locations.
PVC Distribution and Final Register
On Permanent Voter Card distribution, INEC said collection for the first and second phases of the registration exercise, including transferred cards, was ongoing at local government offices.
The commission disclosed that PVCs produced for the third and final phase were being delivered and would be dispatched to states. Distribution is expected to return to registration areas nationwide from December 1, 2026.
INEC also said final reconciliation, quality assurance and publication checks would continue ahead of the release of the final voters’ register, scheduled for December 15, 2026.
The latest development represents a significant step in the commission’s preparations for the 2027 elections, particularly as concerns over voter registration irregularities and the possible misuse of digital technology continue to attract public attention.
With millions of Nigerians expected to participate in the next general election, the credibility of the voters’ register will remain central to public confidence in the electoral process.
However, the commission must ensure that its clean-up measures remove invalid entries without wrongly excluding eligible voters from exercising their constitutional right to vote.
