The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) announced that it has deleted a total of 1,609,553 entries from the preliminary voters’ register.
This came after a nationwide clean-up that uncovered over 1.6 million invalid registrations and 873 confirmed deceased voters ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The commission also revealed that 54 individuals across 10 states had been found complicit in the registration irregularities, warning that those involved would face disciplinary action, including possible prosecution.
INEC Chairman, Prof Joash Amupitan (SAN), made this known on Monday at a press conference in Abuja on the display and publication of the preliminary voters’ register.
He stated that the cleanup came after complaints, claims, and objections were received from members of the public following the display of the register between October 9 and 15, 2026.
According to him, the commission removed 1,608,660 confirmed invalid registrations from the 2025/2026 Continuous Voter Registration exercise, while 873 records of verified deceased persons were separately expunged, bringing the total number of removed records to 1,609,553.
Amupitan said the exercise had been completed, with final reconciliation, quality assurance, and publication checks still ongoing ahead of the release of the final register on December 15, 2026.
He said, “The commission confirms that the current register-cleaning exercise for the 2025/2026 Continuous Voters Registration (CVR) has been concluded. All 1,608,660 confirmed invalid registrations have been removed.
“In addition, 873 records belonging to verified deceased persons have also been removed as a separate category. The combined total of records removed under these two categories is 1,609,553.”
This development ranks among the commission’s most far-reaching voter register clean-up efforts in recent years, and it comes as concerns mount over the credibility of the electoral register in the run-up to the 2027 elections.
The chairman explained that the irregularities became a major problem after the preliminary register was published, drawing public complaints about suspected duplicate registrations, artificial or manipulated photographs, unusual names and registration patterns, and deceased persons continuing to appear on the register.
He noted that some members of the public had claimed the irregularities were deliberately introduced in order to compromise the 2027 elections.
The commission, however, chose to wait until the 14-day statutory period for complaints had expired before presenting its findings and responding to the allegations.
Amupitan said, “The display and online publication of the 2026 preliminary register brought additional public attention, comments, and criticisms to apparently artificial or manipulated photographs, duplicate registration attempts, unusual names and registration patterns, and reports of deceased persons remaining on the register.
“Some even alleged that those irregularities were intentional, aimed at compromising the 2027 election.”
He stated that the commission had reviewed the complaints in line with the provisions of Section 19(2) of the Electoral Act, 2026, which obliges INEC to accept and consider objections, claims, and complaints against the preliminary register within 14 days of its display.
According to this provision, the commission is required to investigate the complaints, make the necessary corrections, and ensure the register is cleaned up before the final voters’ list is published.
In a breakdown of the exercise, Amupitan noted that the commission collected 11,088,238 registration records across the three phases of the 2025/2026 CVR exercise.
He clarified that the records were screened using the Automated Biometric Identification System, which initially flagged 1,545,052 registrations for further review.
The chairman, however, warned that being flagged by the automated system did not necessarily mean a registration was invalid, emphasizing that the technology was intended to identify records needing further investigation, while authorized officials determined their final status.
He said, “A flagged record is not necessarily an invalid registration: automated screening identifies matters requiring review, while authorized adjudication determines the outcome.”
He stated that prior to the release of the preliminary register, 1,277,052 registrations had been confirmed invalid and excluded from the 1,545,052 records flagged for examination.
After the preliminary register was displayed and public complaints were received, the commission put another 268,000 cases through adjudication.
Out of this number, 217,722 registrations were confirmed invalid and removed, while 50,278 were cleared as valid and kept in the register.
The commission then carried out further screening, which identified another 113,886 invalid registrations that were also removed.
The chairman said that, in addition to the 873 deceased voters’ records, the cumulative number of invalid registrations removed after the public objections and subsequent screening was 331,608.
He explained that these removals came on top of the 1,277,052 invalid registrations identified and excluded before the preliminary register was published.
This brought the total number of confirmed invalid registrations removed during the exercise to 1,608,660, while the separate removal of 873 deceased persons’ records raised the overall figure to 1,609,553.
In addition to removing the irregular records, INEC revealed that its investigation had uncovered deliberate breaches of registration procedures by some personnel involved in the voter registration exercise.
Amupitan said the technical assessment looked into suspected multiple registrations, unusual registration patterns, substituted photographs, and irregularities tied to registration transactions.
He said the commission found instances in which some registration personnel deliberately bypassed established procedures and abused provisions meant to accommodate exceptional registration circumstances, including those involving persons with disabilities.
According to him, the affected records had been identified and subjected to appropriate review and remediation, while the personnel linked to the infractions had been identified for administrative investigation.
The chairman revealed that 54 persons across 10 states had been identified as being involved in the irregularities.
He said, “Fifty-four persons across 10 states have been identified as complicit, and necessary disciplinary action will be taken against them, including possible prosecution.”
Amupitan stated that INEC is reinforcing its registration processes by enhancing biometric capture, authentication, and verification safeguards in order to prevent a repeat.
He further noted that the commission regarded the number of affected records as significant enough to justify a detailed review of how the irregularities arose and who was accountable.
Duplications from the past continue to be a serious concern.
Even after removing more than 1.6 million records, INEC cautioned that cleaning up the 2025/2026 registration exercise on its own would not settle all the integrity issues surrounding the national voters’ register.
The chairman revealed that a substantial portion of the duplicate names and photographs shared on social media pertained to registrations carried out between 2011 and 2023.
He explained that the existing national register had developed through a series of registration and CVR exercises since 2011, relying on different generations of technology, operational arrangements, and data quality standards.
He noted that although the register had been cleansed and subjected to biometric comparisons at various points, major issues concerning its historical integrity still existed and called for a coordinated national response. ↻
Amupitan explained that the final voters’ list could still hold duplications carried over from earlier registration exercises, even after the 331,608 irregularities found when the 2025/2026 preliminary register was displayed had been removed.
He said, “Cleaning the register of only the 2025/2026 Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise alone will not solve the problem identified.
“Even with the removal of 331,608 who were found to be irregular in the Preliminary Voter Register for 2025/2026 displayed and published, the final list will still carry over the duplications of 2011-2023.”
He observed that the majority of the duplication complaints and photographs shared on social media related to the old register rather than the most recent registration exercise.
The chairman stated that INEC had instructed that records already flagged through public complaints, along with clear-cut cases spotted on the register, be deleted following proper verification.
Responding to complaints from some Nigerians who claimed their names had vanished from the preliminary register, Amupitan said investigations showed that most of the affected voters had registered between 2011 and 2023.
He explained that some of these voters had moved away from their original registration locations but did not transfer their voter registration to their new places of residence.
Rather than transferring, they registered afresh at their new locations.
Amupitan clarified that the Automated Biometric Identification System detected and cancelled the second registrations because these individuals already had records in the national register.
He added, however, that their original registrations remained valid at their previous locations, which meant they had not necessarily been removed from the register.
He urged the affected voters to confirm their registration details and, where necessary, check their former polling locations.
