The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has removed 1,608,660 invalid registrations from the preliminary register of voters following a nationwide review of entries from the 2025/2026 Continuous Voter Registration exercise.
The commission also removed 876 records belonging to persons verified to be deceased, while 873 additional records of deceased persons were identified and removed, bringing the total number of deceased persons removed to 1,749.
The INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan (SAN), disclosed this on Monday while briefing journalists on the outcome of the review of the preliminary register of voters.
He said the commission received 11,088,238 registration records from the three phases of the 2025/2026 CVR exercise.
Amupitan explained that the current National Register of Voters contained records from successive registration and Continuous Voter Registration exercises conducted since 2011, adding that they were captured using different technologies and operational standards.
He said: “It must be noted that the current National Register of Voters evolved through successive registration and Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercises since 2011. It therefore contains biometric and demographic data captured under different technologies, operational arrangements and quality standards.
“Although the register has undergone cleansing and biometric comparison at different points, significant historical integrity questions remain since 2011 and require a national, systematic response.”
According to him, INEC’s Automated Biometric Identification System initially flagged 1,545,052 records for further examination.
However, Amupitan clarified that being flagged by the automated system did not automatically make a registration invalid, as each case underwent further examination and authorised adjudication.
He said 1,277,052 registrations were confirmed invalid and excluded before the publication of the preliminary register.
Following complaints, claims and objections received during the seven-day display exercise between October 9 and 15, the commission subjected another 268,000 cases to adjudication.
Of these, 217,722 were confirmed invalid and removed, while 50,278 were cleared as valid and retained.
Amupitan said additional screening subsequently identified another 113,886 invalid registrations, bringing the total number of invalid records removed after the review to 331,608.
The 331,608 records were removed in addition to the 1,277,052 registrations previously excluded, bringing the total number of invalid registrations removed to 1,608,660. The 873 additional records of deceased voters were treated as a separate category.
The clean-up exercise followed complaints, claims and objections raised by Nigerians after the preliminary register was displayed nationwide between October 9 and 15, 2026.
Amupitan said the commission was required by law to consider objections and complaints received during the period.
“Pursuant to section 19(2) of the Electoral Act, 2026, the Commission is required to accept and consider objections, claims and complaints raised by the public to the Preliminary Register of Voters within fourteen (14) days after displaying the Voters Register,” he said.
“After verifying the objections, claims and complaints, the Commission is expected to take corrective action and ensure that the register is cleaned up ahead of the publication of the Final Register.”
The preliminary register attracted criticism after Nigerians and civil society organisations reportedly identified irregularities, including suspected artificial intelligence-generated photographs, duplicate registrations, unusual names and entries belonging to deceased persons.
Some of the questionable photographs circulated on social media, prompting concerns about the integrity of the voter registration process and INEC’s verification procedures.
The commission subsequently reviewed the register to investigate the complaints and remove entries found to be invalid.
Amupitan said the findings had raised serious questions about the integrity of the registration process and the conduct of some personnel involved in voter registration.
He disclosed that the commission’s technical assessment uncovered instances of deliberate circumvention of established registration procedures, including the misuse of provisions intended for exceptional registration circumstances, particularly those relating to persons with disabilities.
He said the affected records had been identified and subjected to verification and remediation, while personnel allegedly connected with the infractions had been identified for further administrative investigation.
“Fifty-four persons across ten states have been identified as complicit, and necessary disciplinary action will be taken against them, including possible prosecution,” he said.
The INEC chairman, however, warned that the exercise had not completely resolved the integrity concerns surrounding the national voters’ register, as significant irregularities predated the latest registration exercise.
He said most of the complaints involving multiple registrations and suspicious photographs circulating on social media related to historical records captured between 2011 and 2023.
According to him, the commission’s decision to defer the proposed nationwide voter revalidation exercise until after the 2027 elections did not suspend its existing mechanisms for identifying and removing invalid registrations.
Amupitan said the commission, at its meeting on Monday, resolved to address outstanding duplications in the historical register, directing that records already flagged through public complaints and obvious cases identified internally should be removed after proper verification.
INEC said it would publish the cleaned-up register of voters in December, ahead of the 2027 general elections
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