INEC Removes 1.6m Invalid Voter Registrations, Identifies 54 Officials for Disciplinary Action

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it has removed 1,608,660 invalid voter registrations.

Speaking at a press briefing in Abuja on Monday, Joash Amupitan, INEC chairman, said the invalid registrations were identified through a review conducted using the automated biometric identification system (ABIS) for the 2025 and 2026 continuous voter registration (CVR) exercise.

In October, the commission faced backlash after Nigerians flagged duplicate entries, artificial intelligence-generated photos and names of deceased persons on the voter register.

Amupitan said the commission also removed 873 records belonging to verified deceased persons, bringing the total number of records deleted from the register to 1,609,553.

He said the commission had concluded the cleaning exercise following complaints, claims and objections received during the display of the preliminary register at registration wards between October 9 and 15, 2026, and its subsequent online publication.

“The commission harvested 11,088,238 records from the three phases of the 2025/2026 continuous voter registration (CVR) exercise. Of these, ABIS initially flagged 1,545,052 for examination,” Amupitan said.

“A flagged record is not necessarily an invalid registration: automated screening identifies matters requiring review, while authorised adjudication determines the outcome. Consequently, before publication of the preliminary register, 1,277,052 registrations had been confirmed invalid and excluded from the 1,545,052 for examination.

“As a result of objections, claims and complaints received during the display and publication, a further 268,000 cases underwent adjudication. A total of 217,722 were confirmed invalid and removed, while 50,278 were cleared as valid and retained.

“Additional screening subsequently identified 113,886 further invalid registrations, which were also removed. The cumulative total of confirmed invalid registrations removed after the objections, claims and complaints is 331,608, in addition to the 873 separately verified deceased voters’ records. This brings the total clean-up to 1,608,660.

“The commission confirms that the current register-cleaning exercise for the 2025/2026 continuous voter 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.”

On the irregularities recorded in the preliminary voter register, Amupitan said the commission had identified 54 officials across 10 states for disciplinary action, including possible prosecution, over irregularities detected in the 2025/2026 CVR exercise.

“To prevent recurrence, the Commission is strengthening its registration controls with enhanced biometric capture, authentication and verification safeguards,” he said.

“Fifty-four persons cutting across 10 states have been identified as complicit, and necessary disciplinary action will be taken against them, including possible prosecution.”

He said some registration personnel deliberately circumvented established procedures and abused provisions designed for exceptional registration circumstances, including those involving persons with disabilities.

“The affected records have been identified and subjected to the appropriate review and remediation processes, while the associated personnel have been identified for further administrative investigation,” he said.

Speaking on the complaints about omitted names, the chairman said INEC discovered that most of the affected voters had registered between 2011 and 2023 but subsequently registered again instead of transferring their voter registration to their new locations.

Amupitan said ABIS invalidated the subsequent registrations, while the voters’ names remained in their previous registration locations.

The INEC chairman advised affected voters to check their former registration locations.