The Independent National Electoral Commission said it has removed a total of 1,609,553 records from the preliminary voters’ register.
This followed a nationwide clean-up which uncovered more than 1.6 million invalid registrations and 873 verified deceased voters ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The commission also disclosed that 54 persons across 10 states had been identified as complicit in the registration irregularities, warning that those involved would face disciplinary measures, including possible prosecution.
INEC Chairman, Prof Joash Amupitan (SAN), disclosed this on Monday during a press conference held in Abuja on the display and publication of the preliminary voters’ register.
He said the clean-up followed complaints, claims and objections received from members of the public after the register was displayed 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 belonging to verified deceased persons were separately expunged, bringing the combined number of removed records to 1,609,553.
Amupitan said the exercise had been concluded, with final reconciliation, quality assurance and publication checks 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.”
The development represents one of the commission’s most extensive voter register clean-up exercises in recent years and comes amid growing concerns over the credibility of the electoral register ahead of the 2027 elections.
The chairman explained that the irregularities became a major issue following the publication of the preliminary register, which attracted public complaints over suspected duplicate registrations, artificial or manipulated photographs, unusual names and registration patterns, as well as the continued appearance of deceased persons on the register.
He said some members of the public had alleged that the irregularities were deliberately introduced to compromise the 2027 elections.
However, the commission decided to wait until the expiration of the 14-day statutory period for complaints 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 said the commission had considered the complaints within the provisions of Section 19(2) of the Electoral Act, 2026, which requires INEC to accept and consider objections, claims and complaints against the preliminary register within 14 days of its display.
Under the provision, the commission is expected to investigate the complaints, make necessary corrections and ensure that the register is cleaned up before publication of the final voters’ list.
Giving a breakdown of the exercise, Amupitan said the commission harvested 11,088,238 registration records from the three phases of the 2025/2026 CVR exercise.
He explained that the records were subjected to screening through the Automated Biometric Identification System, which initially flagged 1,545,052 registrations for further examination.
The chairman, however, cautioned that being flagged by the automated system did not automatically mean that a registration was invalid, stressing that the technology was designed to identify records requiring further investigation, while authorised officials determined their final status.
He said, “A flagged record is not necessarily an invalid registration: automated screening identifies matters requiring review, while authorised adjudication determines the outcome.”
According to him, before the publication of the preliminary register, 1,277,052 registrations had been confirmed invalid and excluded from the 1,545,052 records flagged for examination.
Following the display of the preliminary register and the receipt of public complaints, the commission subjected another 268,000 cases to adjudication.
Of this number, 217,722 registrations were confirmed invalid and removed, while 50,278 were cleared as valid and retained in the register.
The commission subsequently conducted additional screening, which identified another 113,886 invalid registrations that were also removed.
The chairman said the cumulative number of invalid registrations removed after the public objections and subsequent screening stood at 331,608, in addition to the 873 deceased voters’ records.
He explained that these removals were in addition to 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.
54 face probe
Beyond the removal of the irregular records, INEC disclosed that its investigation had uncovered deliberate breaches of registration procedures by some personnel involved in the voter registration exercise.
Amupitan said the technical assessment examined suspected multiple registrations, unusual registration patterns, substituted photographs and irregularities associated with registration transactions.
He said the commission discovered instances in which some registration personnel deliberately circumvented established procedures and abused provisions designed 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 connected with the infractions had been identified for administrative investigation.