The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has removed 1,608,660 invalid registrants from Nigeria’s voter register as part of an ongoing exercise to sanitise the database ahead of the 2027 general elections.
INEC Chairman, Professor Joash Amupitan, SAN, disclosed this on Monday, November 9, 2026, while addressing journalists on the outcome of the review of the Preliminary Register of Voters.
The commission also removed 873 records belonging to persons verified to be deceased, bringing the total number of records removed to 1,609,553.
Amupitan further disclosed that INEC had identified 54 registration officials across 10 states for possible disciplinary action, including prosecution, over their alleged involvement in irregularities uncovered during the voter registration exercise.
The clean-up exercise followed complaints, claims and objections raised by Nigerians after the preliminary voter register was displayed nationwide between October 9 and 15, 2026.
The preliminary register attracted widespread criticism after Nigerians and civil society groups reportedly identified several 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, raising concerns about the integrity of the voter registration process and the commission’s verification procedures.
INEC subsequently commenced a review of the preliminary register to investigate the complaints and remove entries found to be invalid.
Providing details of the exercise, Amupitan explained that the commission received 11,088,238 registration records from the three phases of the 2025/2026 Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise.
He said the commission’s Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS) initially flagged 1,545,052 records for further examination.
However, the INEC chairman clarified that being flagged by the automated system did not automatically mean that a registration was invalid, as each case was subjected to further examination and authorised adjudication.
According to him, 1,277,052 registrations were confirmed invalid and excluded before the publication of the Preliminary Register of Voters.
Following the public display of the register and subsequent complaints, another 268,000 cases underwent adjudication. Of this number, 217,722 were confirmed invalid and removed, while 50,278 were cleared and retained.
Amupitan added that further screening identified another 113,886 invalid registrations, bringing the total number of invalid records identified during the review following public objections to 331,608.
When combined with the 1,277,052 registrations earlier excluded, the total number of invalid registrations removed stood at 1,608,660.
The commission also removed 873 records of verified deceased persons, bringing the combined number of records removed to 1,609,553.
On how the irregularities occurred, Amupitan said the commission’s technical assessment revealed cases of suspected multiple registrations, substituted photographs and irregularities associated with registration transactions.
He explained that some registration personnel deliberately circumvented established procedures and abused provisions designed to accommodate exceptional registration circumstances, including special registration arrangements for persons with disabilities who have incomplete or missing fingers.
The chairman said the affected records had been identified and subjected to appropriate review and remediation, while the personnel involved had been identified for further administrative investigation.
He added that the commission was strengthening its registration controls through improved biometric capture, authentication and verification safeguards to prevent a recurrence.
Meanwhile, Amupitan cautioned that the cleaning exercise covering the 2025/2026 Continuous Voter Registration alone would not resolve all the integrity concerns surrounding the national voters register.
He explained that several suspected duplicate registrations originated from historical registration exercises conducted between 2011 and 2023.
According to him, most of the duplicated names and photographs circulated on social media during the controversy related to the historical register rather than the latest registration exercise.
The INEC chairman disclosed that the commission, at its meeting on Monday, November 9, decided to address the historical irregularities.
He said the commission directed that cases already flagged through public complaints, as well as obvious irregularities identified in the register, should be removed after proper verification.
INEC had earlier announced plans for a nationwide voter revalidation exercise in February 2026 to strengthen the accuracy and reliability of the register, particularly records captured using older registration technologies.
However, the exercise was postponed following concerns raised by stakeholders over its proximity to the 2027 general elections and the possibility of disenfranchising eligible voters.
Amupitan stressed that the postponement did not suspend existing mechanisms for protecting the integrity of the register, including biometric screening, adjudication and statutory claims and objections.
Addressing complaints by some Nigerians who claimed that their names were missing from the preliminary register, the chairman said investigations showed that most of the affected persons had registered between 2011 and 2023 but subsequently registered again instead of transferring their voter registration to their new locations.
He explained that the subsequent registrations were invalidated by the biometric screening system, while their original registrations remained in their former locations.
He therefore advised affected voters to check the register at their previous registration locations.
On the distribution of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs), Amupitan said the exercise for the first and second phases of registration, including transferred cards, was ongoing at various local government areas across the country.
He added that some PVCs from the third and final phase were being delivered and would be dispatched to states from the following week.
According to him, distribution would return to Registration Areas nationwide from December 1, 2026.
The chairman appealed to Nigerians who participated in the third phase of the registration exercise to exercise patience, explaining that the production of their cards was being handled outside the country.
He also maintained that the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and established election-day procedures would provide additional safeguards against multiple accreditation and voting during the 2027 general elections.
Amupitan explained that voters would be required to appear physically at their designated polling units for biometric authentication through fingerprints or facial recognition, with the system designed to prevent multiple accreditation.
He assured Nigerians that the commission remained committed to removing invalid entries without wrongfully excluding eligible voters from the electoral process.
The INEC chairman said the final cleaned-up voters register would be published on December 15, 2026, after reconciliation, quality assurance and other necessary publication checks.
He assured Nigerians that the commission would continue to provide verifiable information about the cleaning exercise while protecting personal data and the integrity of ongoing investigations.
