INEC Expunges 1.6m Invalid Voter Records, Flags 54 Officials

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has removed 1,609,553 records from the national voters’ register after a nationwide clean-up that exposed multiple registrations, manipulated photographs, irregular patterns and entries of deceased persons.

INEC Chairman Prof. Joash Amupitan (SAN) announced the figures on Monday in Abuja while briefing journalists on the review of the Preliminary Register of Voters ahead of the 2027 general elections. The deleted records comprised 1,608,660 confirmed invalid registrations from the 2025/2026 Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise and 873 verified deceased voters’ records treated as a separate category.

The commission harvested 11,088,238 registration records across the three phases of the CVR. Its Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS) initially flagged 1,545,052 entries for further examination. Amupitan stressed that a flag did not automatically render a registration invalid; each case underwent authorised adjudication.

Before the Preliminary Register was published, 1,277,052 registrations had already been confirmed invalid and excluded. During the seven-day public display between October 9 and 15, the commission received complaints, claims and objections and subjected another 268,000 cases to adjudication. Of these, 217,722 were confirmed invalid and removed while 50,278 were cleared as valid and retained. Additional screening later identified 113,886 more invalid registrations, bringing the post-review total of confirmed invalid entries removed to 331,608.

Amupitan said the current National Register of Voters had evolved through successive registration and CVR exercises since 2011 and therefore contains biometric and demographic data captured under different technologies, operational arrangements and quality standards. Although previous cleansing exercises had been conducted, significant historical integrity questions remained.

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The commission’s technical assessment uncovered deliberate circumvention of established registration procedures, including misuse of provisions meant for exceptional circumstances such as persons with disabilities. Fifty-four personnel across 10 states have been identified as complicit. “Necessary disciplinary action will be taken against them including possible prosecution,” Amupitan said. Security agencies are conducting parallel investigations, and cases involving criminal conduct will be forwarded for prosecution.

Most complaints involving multiple registrations and suspicious photographs circulating on social media related to historical records captured between 2011 and 2023 rather than the latest exercise. INEC has deferred a proposed nationwide voter revalidation until after the 2027 elections but has directed that records already flagged through public complaints and obvious internal cases be removed after proper verification.

On allegations of artificial intelligence-generated photographs, Amupitan confirmed that manipulated images had been identified. The commission has directed its Director of Information and Communication Technology to discontinue external webcam-based image uploads and insist that photographs be captured only through an approved application. INEC has also approved a comprehensive Artificial Intelligence Governance Framework, developed with partners including the Institute for Security Studies and the British High Commission, to regulate responsible AI use in its operations.
Amupitan maintained that existing safeguards, particularly the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), would prevent multiple accreditation and voting. Voters must appear physically at their designated polling units and undergo biometric authentication via fingerprints or facial recognition. The system records successful accreditation and is designed to stop an individual from being accredited more than once.

Final reconciliation, quality assurance and publication checks are ongoing. The Final Register of Voters is scheduled for release on December 15, 2026.

The clean-up comes as the judiciary prepares for post-election disputes. The President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Monica Dongban-Mensem, disclosed that 375 judicial officers have been nominated to serve on the 2027 Election Petition Tribunals — 138 returning members with previous experience and 237 new nominees. Chief Justice of Nigeria Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, while swearing them in, cautioned lawyers against filing multiple suits on the same subject matter, seeking conflicting orders from courts of coordinate jurisdiction, or using ex parte applications for tactical advantage. She warned that the courtroom must not become an extension of the political arena and urged judges to decide cases strictly on pleadings, evidence and the law.

Amupitan also addressed related matters. He said INEC had yet to receive a subpoena directing him to appear as a defence witness in the criminal trial of activist Omoyele Sowore or to produce electoral documents relating to President Bola Tinubu’s 1999 Lagos governorship and 2023 presidential elections.

On Federal High Court judgments affecting the leadership of the African Democratic Congress and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar’s candidacy, he said the commission would obtain and study certified true copies before taking any action, noting that it does not act on social media reports. He further stated that early voting for journalists and electoral officials is not yet provided for under the Electoral Act, though advocacy for it continues.

INEC has also urged journalists to uphold accurate, verifiable and balanced reporting ahead of the polls, distinguishing news from political advertising and correcting errors promptly.

The commission insisted that the statutory claims-and-objections process remains vital for protecting eligible voters while removing confirmed invalid entries, and that technology and procedural safeguards will underpin the credibility of the 2027 elections.