The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has removed 1,608,660 invalid registrations from the preliminary national register of voters following a comprehensive review of records generated during the 2025/2026 Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise.
The commission also disclosed that it had removed 1,749 records belonging to deceased persons after verification, as part of efforts to strengthen the credibility and integrity of the national voters’ register ahead of the 2027 general elections.
INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan (SAN), made the disclosure on Monday while briefing journalists on the outcome of the nationwide review.
According to him, the commission received 11,088,238 registration records from the three phases of the 2025/2026 CVR exercise.
Amupitan explained that the National Register of Voters comprises records accumulated from successive registration exercises conducted since 2011, using different technologies, operational procedures and data quality standards.
He noted that despite previous efforts to cleanse the register through biometric comparisons, longstanding integrity concerns remained, necessitating a more comprehensive review.
The INEC chairman disclosed that the commission’s Automated Biometric Identification System initially flagged 1,545,052 records for further investigation.
He, however, clarified that being flagged by the automated system did not automatically render a registration invalid, as each case was subjected to further scrutiny and authorised adjudication.
He said 1,277,052 registrations were confirmed invalid and excluded before the publication of the preliminary register.
Following the seven-day display of the preliminary register between October 9 and 15, during which Nigerians were allowed to submit complaints, claims and objections, INEC reviewed an additional 268,000 cases.
Of the figure, 217,722 registrations were confirmed invalid and removed, while 50,278 were cleared and retained in the register.
Amupitan further disclosed that subsequent screening identified another 113,886 invalid registrations, bringing the total number of invalid records removed during the review to 1,608,660.
The commission said the exercise was carried out in line with Section 19(2) of the Electoral Act, 2026, which requires INEC to receive and consider public objections and complaints against the preliminary register before publishing the final version.
Beyond the removal of questionable registrations, the commission disclosed that its technical assessment uncovered deliberate attempts by some individuals to circumvent established voter registration procedures.
Amupitan particularly identified the alleged misuse of provisions designed to accommodate exceptional registration circumstances, including those relating to persons with disabilities.
He said 54 individuals across ten states had been identified as allegedly complicit in the infractions, adding that disciplinary measures would be taken against those found culpable, including possible prosecution.
The INEC chairman also acknowledged that the preliminary register had attracted public criticism following the circulation of questionable entries, including suspected artificial intelligence-generated photographs, duplicate registrations, unusual names and records belonging to deceased persons.
He explained that investigations revealed that many of the irregularities involving multiple registrations and suspicious photographs predated the latest CVR exercise, with several traced to historical records captured between 2011 and 2023.
Amupitan stressed that the commission’s decision to postpone the proposed nationwide voter revalidation exercise until after the 2027 general elections did not mean it had suspended efforts to identify and eliminate invalid registrations.
He disclosed that INEC had resolved to address outstanding duplications in the historical register, directing that records already flagged through public complaints and obvious cases identified internally should be removed after proper verification.
The commission assured Nigerians that the cleaned-up national register of voters would be published in December, ahead of the 2027 general elections.
