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By Gabriel Ameh
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has removed more than 1.6 million invalid voter registration records from its preliminary register following a nationwide clean-up exercise ahead of Nigeria’s 2027 general elections.
The Commission also disclosed that 54 officials across 10 states had been identified over alleged involvement in registration irregularities and could face disciplinary action, including prosecution.
INEC Chairman, Professor Joash Ojo Amupitan, SAN, announced the development on Sunday, November 8, 2026, during a press conference on the display and publication of the Preliminary Register of Voters.
According to the chairman, the affected records comprised 1,608,660 confirmed invalid registrations and 873 verified records belonging to deceased persons.
Amupitan explained that the clean-up followed complaints, claims and objections submitted by members of the public after the preliminary register was displayed at various wards nationwide between October 9 and 15, 2026, before being published online.
He said the Commission deployed its Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS) to detect suspected multiple registrations and other irregularities within the voter database.
INEC harvested 11,088,238 registration records from the three phases of the 2025/2026 Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise, out of which 1,545,052 were initially flagged for further examination.
However, Amupitan stressed that being flagged by the automated system did not automatically invalidate a registration, explaining that every case underwent authorised adjudication before a final decision was reached.
He disclosed that 1,277,052 registrations had been confirmed invalid and excluded before the preliminary register was published.
Following the public display, another 268,000 cases were subjected to adjudication. Of these, 217,722 were confirmed invalid and removed, while 50,278 were cleared and retained as valid registrations.
Further screening subsequently identified another 113,886 invalid registrations, bringing the cumulative number of confirmed invalid records removed to 1,608,660.
The Commission also removed 873 verified records of deceased voters.
Amupitan said the clean-up exercise for the 2025/2026 CVR had been concluded, while final reconciliation, quality assurance and publication checks were ongoing ahead of the release of the Final Register of Voters scheduled for December 15, 2026.
54 Officials Identified Over Voter Registration Irregularities
Beyond the removal of invalid voter records, INEC disclosed that investigations had identified 54 persons across 10 states over alleged complicity in the irregularities uncovered during the technical assessment.
The chairman said investigations revealed instances where some registration personnel deliberately bypassed established procedures and misused provisions designed to accommodate exceptional registration circumstances, including processes for persons with disabilities.
He explained that the affected records had been identified and subjected to appropriate review and remediation, while the personnel involved had been listed for administrative investigation.
Amupitan warned that officials found culpable would face disciplinary measures, including possible prosecution.
He added that INEC was strengthening its registration procedures through improved biometric capture, authentication and verification safeguards to prevent a recurrence of the irregularities.
The exercise forms part of the Commission’s efforts to improve the credibility of the voter register and strengthen confidence in Nigeria’s electoral process ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Source: Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
