The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has removed 1,609,553 records from the voters’ register following a nationwide verification exercise that uncovered multiple registrations, irregular photographs and other suspected registration violations.
The commission also disclosed that 54 persons across 10 states had been identified as complicit in the irregularities, warning that those involved would face disciplinary measures, including possible prosecution.
INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Ojo Amupitan, SAN, disclosed this on Monday while addressing journalists on the outcome of the review of the Preliminary Register of Voters following complaints received during its public display and online publication.
According to him, the records removed comprised 1,608,660 confirmed invalid registrations and 873 entries belonging to verified deceased voters.
He explained that the exercise followed public complaints and objections raised during the display of the Preliminary Register of Voters at ward levels between October 9 and 15, 2026, as well as its subsequent online publication.
Amupitan said the commission had concluded the cleaning exercise relating to the 2025/2026 Continuous Voter Registration (CVR), adding that final reconciliation and quality assurance processes were ongoing ahead of the publication of the Final Register on December 15, 2026.
Providing a breakdown of the exercise, the INEC chairman said the commission harvested 11,088,238 registration records from the three phases of the 2025/2026 CVR.
He said the Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS) initially flagged 1,545,052 records for further examination, stressing that being flagged did not automatically mean a registration was invalid.
According to him, 1,277,052 registrations had been confirmed invalid and excluded before the publication of the Preliminary Register.
Following complaints, claims and objections submitted by members of the public, another 268,000 cases underwent adjudication.
Of these, 217,722 were confirmed invalid and removed, while 50,278 were cleared as valid and retained.
The commission subsequently identified another 113,886 invalid registrations through additional screening, bringing the total number of invalid registrations removed after the public objections to 331,608.
The figure, alongside the 873 verified deceased voters’ records, brought the overall number of removed entries to 1,609,553.
Amupitan said the commission had also commenced investigations into how the irregularities occurred, particularly cases involving suspected multiple registrations, substituted photographs, unusual registration patterns and manipulation of registration transactions.
He disclosed that preliminary findings showed that some registration personnel deliberately circumvented established procedures and abused provisions designed to accommodate exceptional registration circumstances, including registration processes for persons with disabilities.
The affected records, he said, had been identified and subjected to verification and remediation, while personnel allegedly involved had been identified for administrative investigation.
INEC, he added, was strengthening its registration procedures through improved biometric capture, authentication and verification safeguards to prevent a recurrence.
However, the chairman warned that cleaning up the 2025/2026 registration records alone would not resolve all the integrity concerns surrounding the national voters’ register.
He said a significant number of suspected duplicate registrations and irregular records originated from historical registration exercises conducted between 2011 and 2023.
According to him, several of the duplicate names and photographs circulated on social media were linked to the older records rather than the recently concluded CVR exercise.
He disclosed that the commission, at its meeting on Monday, November 9, 2026, resolved to address the historical irregularities and directed that previously flagged cases and obvious instances of duplication should be removed after proper verification.
The INEC chairman recalled that the commission had announced plans in February 2026 to conduct a nationwide voter revalidation exercise to strengthen the accuracy and reliability of the register.
The proposed exercise was designed to update biometric information, resolve registration inconsistencies and improve voter accreditation on election days.
However, he said the exercise was postponed following concerns from stakeholders about its proximity to the 2027 general elections and the possibility of disenfranchising eligible voters.
He stressed that the postponement did not suspend the commission’s existing mechanisms for maintaining the integrity of the register, including biometric screening, adjudication and statutory claims and objections.
On complaints by voters who claimed their names had been omitted from the preliminary register, Amupitan said investigations showed that many had registered between 2011 and 2023 and subsequently registered again instead of transferring their voter registration to their new locations.
He explained that the second registrations were rejected by the biometric verification system, while their original records remained in their previous registration locations.
He therefore advised affected voters to check the locations where they initially registered.
On Permanent Voter Card distribution, the chairman said the distribution of PVCs from the first and second phases of the CVR, alongside transferred cards, was ongoing across local government areas.
He added that some cards produced under the third and final phase were being delivered and would be dispatched to states the following week.
According to him, distribution would return to Registration Areas nationwide from December 1, 2026.
He appealed to voters who participated in the third phase to exercise patience, explaining that the production of the cards was being undertaken outside Nigeria.
Amupitan further assured Nigerians that the commission had additional safeguards to prevent multiple accreditation and voting during the 2027 general elections.
He said the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), alongside the commission’s standard operating procedures, requires voters to be physically present at their designated polling units for biometric authentication through fingerprints or facial recognition.
He explained that the system verifies voters’ identities against the register and records successful accreditation, with safeguards designed to prevent individuals from being accredited more than once.
The INEC chairman maintained that the commission remained committed to removing invalid entries without wrongfully excluding eligible voters, adding that public complaints and documented objections remained important to improving the credibility of the register.
He said the commission would continue to publish verifiable aggregate information while protecting personal data and the integrity of ongoing investigations.
