INEC Removes 1.6 Million Voter Records, Identifies 54 Officials
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has removed 1,609,533 records from Nigeria’s voters’ register following a nationwide screening that uncovered multiple registrations and other irregularities.
INEC Chairman, Professor Joash Amupitan, announced the development on Monday while presenting findings from the review of the Preliminary Register of Voters ahead of the 2027 elections.
He disclosed that 1,608,660 entries were confirmed invalid registrations, while 873 belonged to deceased voters whose deaths had been officially verified.
The screening uncovered duplicate registrations, manipulated photographs and suspicious registration activities, raising fresh concerns about the integrity of Nigeria’s electoral database.
Amupitan also disclosed that 54 individuals across ten states had been identified over alleged involvement in the irregularities, with disciplinary action and possible prosecution expected.
He explained that the three phases of the Continuous Voter Registration exercise generated 11,088,238 records, which subsequently underwent biometric screening and verification.
The Automated Biometric Identification System initially flagged 1,545,052 entries for examination, although Amupitan clarified that flagged registrations were not automatically considered invalid.
Further investigations confirmed 1,277,052 invalid registrations, while another 331,608 were discovered during subsequent screening, bringing the total to 1,608,660.
The chairman said the exercise followed Section 19(2) of the Electoral Act 2026, which allows citizens to challenge questionable entries in the Preliminary Register.
He added that INEC would investigate complaints and make necessary corrections before publishing the Final Register of Voters on December 15, 2026.
Amupitan noted that several complaints about duplicate registrations and suspicious photographs circulating online concerned historical records captured between 2011 and 2023.
He maintained that postponing the proposed nationwide voter revalidation exercise until after the 2027 elections would not stop INEC from removing questionable records.
Addressing missing voter records, he explained that some Nigerians who relocated registered afresh instead of transferring their existing registrations to new polling locations.
Their subsequent registrations were invalidated through biometric screening, while their original records remained at their former polling units, requiring affected voters to check previous locations.
On allegations involving artificial intelligence-generated photographs, Amupitan confirmed that manipulated images had been identified and additional registration safeguards were being introduced.
He said INEC had directed its Director of Information and Communication Technology to discontinue external webcam-based uploads, requiring photographs through an approved application.
The commission has also approved an Artificial Intelligence Governance Framework developed with contributions from the Institute for Security Studies and the British High Commission.
Meanwhile, security agencies are investigating the irregularities as INEC strengthens its information technology infrastructure and cybersecurity arrangements ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Amupitan assured Nigerians that the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) would help prevent multiple accreditation through fingerprint or facial recognition at designated polling units.
He reaffirmed INEC’s commitment to removing fraudulent registrations while protecting eligible Nigerians from wrongful exclusion during the forthcoming 2027 general elections.
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