The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has concluded an exercise to clean up the national voter register, removing more than 1.6 million invalid registrations following the identification of irregularities, including suspected duplicate entries, manipulated photographs and records of deceased persons.
INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, disclosed this on Monday during a press briefing in Abuja, explaining that the exercise followed complaints and objections submitted by Nigerians after the preliminary register was displayed nationwide from October 9 to 15, 2026.
According to him, the commission received complaints about multiple registrations, unusual names and registration patterns, manipulated photographs and deceased persons allegedly remaining on the register.
Amupitan said the commission waited for the expiration of the 14-day statutory period provided under Section 19(2) of the Electoral Act 2026 before reviewing the objections and making corrections.
“The cleansing exercise aimed at addressing the irregularities observed in the 2025-2026 Continuous Voter Registration exercise has been concluded,” he said.
Giving a breakdown of the exercise, the INEC chairman said the commission processed 11,088,238 registration records generated during the three phases of the 2025-2026 Continuous Voter Registration exercise using its Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS).
He explained that the system initially flagged 1,545,052 records for further examination, noting that being flagged did not automatically mean a registration was invalid.
Before the preliminary register was displayed, 1,277,052 registrations had already been confirmed invalid and excluded.
Following complaints received during the display period, another 268,000 cases were subjected to adjudication. Of these, 217,722 were declared invalid and removed, while 50,278 were confirmed valid and retained.
Amupitan added that further screening by INEC’s Information and Communication Technology department identified an additional 113,886 invalid registrations, which were also removed.
The combined figures bring the number of invalid registrations removed through the exercise to more than 1.6 million.
The INEC chairman identified historical registration records dating back to 2011 as a major challenge in maintaining the accuracy of the national voter register.
He said several complaints about multiple registrations were linked to records accumulated between 2011 and 2023, when different technologies and operational standards were used during successive registration exercises.
Amupitan explained that the commission was addressing the inconsistencies through established verification procedures.
He also clarified that the postponement of the nationwide voter revalidation exercise, following concerns about its proximity to the 2027 general election, did not mean INEC had stopped efforts to improve the integrity of the register.
“Biometric screening, adjudication, statutory claims and objections, and other established verification procedures remain integral to the preparation of the final register of voters,” he said.
The commission is expected to publish the final national voter register on December 15, 2026, as preparations continue for the 2027 general election.
