INEC removes 1.6 million invalid registrations from voter register

INEC has removed 1,608,660 invalid registrations from the voter register being prepared for the 2027 general elections, INEC Chairman Joash Amupitan said in Abuja on Monday.

Amupitan told a news conference that the commission had also removed records of people verified to have died. “1,609,553 records have been removed, comprising 1,608,660 confirmed invalid registrations and 873 verified deceased-voter records,” he said, Vanguard reported. Reports of the deceased figure differ: Channels Television gave 876, while Punch reported 876 records and another 873, a total of 1,749.

The register decides who can vote in 2027. The clean-up follows complaints that the preliminary register, displayed from 9 to 15 October, contained duplicate entries, suspected AI-generated photographs and records of dead people.

Amupitan said the commission received 11,088,238 records from the three phases of the 2025/2026 Continuous Voter Registration exercise. Its Automated Biometric Identification System flagged 1,545,052 for examination, and 1,277,052 were confirmed invalid and left out of the preliminary register, he said.

After the display, the commission examined another 268,000 cases raised in claims and objections. It removed 217,722 of them and kept 50,278 as valid, Amupitan said.

Further screening found 113,886 more invalid registrations, bringing the total removed since the preliminary register was published to 331,608, he said.

Amupitan said the review found deliberate abuse of registration procedures, including misuse of provisions meant for people with disabilities. “Fifty-four persons across ten states have been identified as complicit, and necessary disciplinary action will be taken against them, including possible prosecution,” he said.

He said most complaints about multiple registrations and suspicious photographs concerned older records captured between 2011 and 2023. The commission resolved on Monday to remove duplicates already flagged in that older part of the register once they are verified, he said.

Amupitan also said permanent voter cards (PVCs) for the third phase of registration were being delivered and would be sent to the states next week, with collection moving back to registration areas from 1 December. “We appeal to those that registered in the third phase to be a little bit patient since the production is done outside the country,” he said.

Lawrence Bayode, INEC’s director of information and communication technology, had said the clean-up would be finished before the final register is certified on 15 December.

INEC said it would publish the cleaned-up register in December. Channels Television reported the date as 16 December.

Sources: Punch; Vanguard; Channels Television