The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has removed 1,609,553 records from the preliminary register of voters following the discovery of invalid registrations, biometric irregularities and records of deceased persons, while identifying 54 individuals across 10 states for alleged complicity in manipulating the registration process.
The commission said the affected records comprised 1,608,660 confirmed invalid registrations and 873 records belonging to verified deceased voters, following an extensive review of the 2025/2026 Continuous Voter Registration, CVR, exercise and complaints received during the display of the preliminary voters register.
INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, SAN, disclosed this at a press conference, explaining that investigations revealed instances in which some registration personnel deliberately circumvented established procedures and abused provisions designed to accommodate exceptional registration circumstances, including registration of persons with disabilities.
Amupitan said the 54 individuals identified across 10 states had been flagged for further administrative investigation, warning that appropriate disciplinary measures, including possible prosecution, would be pursued against those found culpable.
He said the commission harvested 11,088,238 registration records from the three phases of the 2025/2026 CVR exercise, out of which its Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS) initially flagged 1,545,052 for further examination.
He explained that 1,277,052 of the flagged registrations had been confirmed invalid and excluded before the publication of the preliminary register, stressing that being flagged by the automated system did not automatically make a registration invalid, as each case was subjected to authorised adjudication.
According to him, following complaints, claims and objections received during the statutory display period, the commission subjected another 268,000 cases to adjudication, confirming 217,722 as invalid and removing them, while clearing 50,278 as valid registrations.
Amupitan added that subsequent screening identified another 113,886 invalid registrations, bringing the cumulative number of invalid records removed after the public objections and additional screening to 331,608, in addition to the other categories of invalid registrations identified during the exercise.
He said the current clean-up of the 2025/2026 registration exercise had been concluded, while final reconciliation, quality assurance and publication checks were ongoing ahead of the release of the final register on December 15, 2026.
The INEC chairman, however, warned that the problems confronting the voters register extended beyond the recent registration exercise, noting that several multiple registrations and other irregularities being circulated on social media originated from historical records captured between 2011 and 2023.
“Cleaning the register of only the 2025/2026 Continuous Voter Registration exercise alone will not solve the problem identified,” he said.
He disclosed that the commission had resolved to address the historical irregularities, particularly duplicate records already flagged through public complaints and obvious cases identified in the register, subject to proper verification.
The chairman also explained that some voters who complained about the omission of their names had previously registered between 2011 and 2023 but subsequently registered again instead of transferring their voter registration to their new locations.
According to him, the second registrations were invalidated by the biometric identification system, while their original records remained in their previous registration locations.
He therefore advised affected voters to check their former registration locations rather than assume that their records had been completely removed.
Amupitan further disclosed that INEC had identified weaknesses in the registration process that enabled some personnel to manipulate procedures, adding that the commission was strengthening its controls through improved biometric capture, authentication and verification safeguards.
He said the proposed nationwide voter revalidation exercise, earlier announced in February 2026 to address historical inconsistencies and improve the quality of voter records, had been deferred until after the 2027 general elections following concerns from stakeholders about its proximity to the polls and possible disenfranchisement of eligible voters.
The postponement, he stressed, did not suspend existing mechanisms for protecting the integrity of the register, as biometric screening, adjudication, statutory claims and objections, and other verification procedures remained operational.
On the distribution of Permanent Voter Cards, PVCs, the INEC chairman said distribution of cards from the first and second phases of the registration exercise, alongside transferred PVCs, was ongoing at local government areas across the country.
He added that some cards from the third and final phase were being delivered and would be dispatched to states the following week, while distribution would return to Registration Areas nationwide from December 1, 2026.
Addressing concerns about the possibility of multiple voting arising from irregularities in the register, Amupitan said the commission had additional safeguards to prevent electoral fraud during accreditation and voting.
He explained that the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, BVAS, together with the commission’s Standard Operating Procedures for presiding officers, required voters to be physically present at their designated polling units for biometric authentication through either fingerprints or facial recognition.
“The accreditation process verifies the voter’s identity against the register and records successful accreditation, with controls designed to prevent the same voter from being accredited more than once,” he said.
He reaffirmed the commission’s commitment to removing invalid entries without disenfranchising eligible voters, adding that public complaints and documented objections remained essential to ensuring the credibility of the final register.
“The response is evidence-led investigation, completed corrective action and stronger preventive controls,” he said.
