By Nkechi Eze
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has expunged 1,609,553 invalid records from the Preliminary Register of Voters following a nationwide clean-up exercise, while identifying 54 registration personnel across 10 states for disciplinary action, including possible prosecution, over their alleged involvement in registration irregularities.
INEC Chairman, Professor Joash Ojo Amupitan, SAN, disclosed this on Monday in Abuja during a press conference on the display and publication of the Preliminary Register of Voters, assuring Nigerians that the Commission was taking concrete steps to safeguard the credibility of the voter register ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Amupitan explained that the exercise followed the 14-day statutory period for receiving claims, objections and complaints from members of the public after the Preliminary Register was displayed at ward levels between October 9 and 15, 2026, and subsequently published online.
He said the complaints received exposed several irregularities, including suspected multiple registrations, manipulated or substituted photographs, unusual names and registration patterns, as well as records of deceased persons still appearing on the register.
According to him, the Commission undertook a comprehensive review of the complaints and subjected questionable entries to biometric screening and adjudication to establish their validity before taking corrective action.
He noted that Nigeria’s National Register of Voters had evolved through successive registration and Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercises since 2011, involving different technologies, operational procedures and data quality standards.
Although the register had undergone periodic cleansing and biometric comparisons, he said historical integrity concerns dating back to 2011 remained and required a more systematic approach.
Giving a breakdown of the latest clean-up exercise, the INEC chairman said the Commission harvested 11,088,238 records from the three phases of the 2025/2026 CVR exercise.
Of this figure, the Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS) initially flagged 1,545,052 records for further examination. However, he clarified that being flagged by the automated system did not automatically make a registration invalid, as each case had to undergo authorised review and adjudication.
He disclosed that before the publication of the Preliminary Register, 1,277,052 registrations had been confirmed invalid and removed.
Following the public display, another 268,000 cases were subjected to adjudication, resulting in the removal of 217,722 invalid registrations, while 50,278 were confirmed valid and retained.
An additional screening exercise subsequently identified 113,886 further invalid registrations for removal.
Amupitan explained that the cumulative figure of confirmed invalid registrations removed after the claims, objections and complaints stood at 331,608, in addition to 873 separately verified records of deceased voters.
When combined with the 1,277,052 registrations earlier removed, the total number of records expunged from the register amounted to 1,609,553.
He said the scale of the irregularities warranted further investigation to establish how they occurred and identify those responsible.
The technical assessment, he added, uncovered suspected multiple registrations, unusual registration patterns, substituted photographs and other irregularities linked to registration transactions.
The Commission also found instances where some registration personnel allegedly bypassed established procedures and abused provisions designed for exceptional registration circumstances, including those intended to accommodate persons with disabilities.
Amupitan said the affected records had been identified and subjected to appropriate review and corrective measures, while the personnel allegedly connected to the infractions had been identified for administrative investigation.
He declared: “Fifty-four persons cutting across ten states have been identified as complicit and necessary disciplinary action will be taken against them including possible prosecution.”
The INEC chairman said the Commission was also strengthening its registration procedures through improved biometric capture, authentication and verification safeguards to prevent a recurrence of the identified irregularities.
He, however, warned that addressing irregularities arising from the 2025/2026 CVR exercise alone would not resolve all the integrity concerns surrounding the national register, particularly duplications inherited from previous registration exercises between 2011 and 2023.
According to him, many of the duplicate names and photographs circulated on social media were linked to the older register rather than the recently concluded registration exercise.
He disclosed that the Commission, at its meeting on Monday, November 9, 2026, resolved to extend the clean-up to historical records, directing that previously flagged cases arising from public complaints and obvious irregularities should be removed after proper verification.
Addressing complaints by some Nigerians who could not find their names in their current locations, Amupitan explained that many affected voters had registered between 2011 and 2023 but subsequently relocated without formally transferring their registration.
He said some of them instead registered afresh at their new locations, but the subsequent registrations were voided by the biometric system, leaving their original records at their former polling locations.
He therefore advised affected voters to check their previous registration locations to ascertain whether their details were still captured there.
On the distribution of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs), the INEC chairman said distribution of cards from the first and second phases, alongside transferred PVCs, was ongoing at various Local Government Areas across the country.
He added that some PVCs produced under the third and final phase were being delivered and would be dispatched to the states the following week.
According to him, nationwide distribution would return to Registration Areas from December 1, 2026, urging beneficiaries of the third phase to exercise patience because the production process was being handled outside Nigeria.
Amupitan further assured Nigerians that the Commission had additional safeguards to prevent multiple accreditation and voting during the 2027 general elections.
He explained that the Standard Operating Procedures for Presiding Officers, alongside the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), require voters to appear physically at their designated polling units for biometric authentication through either fingerprint or facial recognition.
He said the process verifies each voter’s identity against the register and records successful accreditation, with measures designed to prevent an individual from being accredited more than once.
The INEC chairman also recalled that the Commission had announced plans in February 2026 to conduct a nationwide voter revalidation exercise to improve the accuracy and reliability of the register, particularly historical records captured with older generations of registration technology.
However, he said the exercise was postponed until after the 2027 general elections following concerns from stakeholders about its proximity to the polls and the possibility of affecting voter participation.
He stressed that the postponement did not mean the suspension of existing mechanisms for maintaining the integrity of the register, noting that biometric screening, adjudication, statutory claims and objections, and other verification procedures remained in force.
Amupitan said the Commission was committed to ensuring that confirmed invalid registrations were removed without disenfranchising eligible Nigerians, adding that the ongoing corrective measures and strengthened safeguards were aimed at producing a credible and reliable Final Register of Voters.
INEC is expected to publish the Final Register on December 15, 2026, following the completion of reconciliation, quality assurance and other necessary verification processes.
