The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it has removed 1,609,553 invalid entries and deceased persons’ records from the voter register ahead of the 2027 general elections.
INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, disclosed this at a news conference on Monday in Abuja.
He also announced disciplinary action and possible prosecution against 54 electoral personnel across 10 states over alleged registration infractions.
Amupitan said the removals followed complaints, claims and objections received during the public display of the preliminary voter register at ward level.
The exercise took place between Oct. 9 and Oct. 15, alongside online submissions.
He explained that the current National Register of Voters had evolved through successive registration and Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercises since 2011.
This, he said, had created historical data integrity challenges requiring a systematic national response.
Providing details of the cleanup under the Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS), Amupitan said 11,088,238 records were harvested across three phases.
Of these, 1,545,052 were initially flagged for examination by the system.
He clarified that flagged records were not automatically invalid, as each required further examination and authorised adjudication.
Before the preliminary register was published, 1,277,052 registrations had been confirmed invalid and excluded.
Following public objections, another 268,000 cases underwent adjudication, resulting in 217,722 invalid entries being removed.
He said 50,278 records were cleared as valid, while another 113,886 invalid registrations were identified and removed.
Amupitan said the cumulative number of confirmed invalid registrations removed after objections, claims and complaints was 331,608.
He added that 873 separately verified deceased voters’ records were also removed.
The commission, however, put the combined total of records removed under the two categories at 1,609,553.
Amupitan said final reconciliation, quality assurance and publication checks were ongoing ahead of the register’s scheduled release on Dec. 15.
On internal administrative breaches, he said technical assessments uncovered deliberate sabotage by some electoral personnel.
He alleged that the affected personnel abused special registration provisions intended for Persons Living with Disabilities (PwDs).
The chairman said 54 persons across 10 states had been identified as complicit in the infractions.
He said the commission would take necessary disciplinary measures, including possible prosecution.
Addressing concerns over duplicate photographs and unusual names circulating on social media, Amupitan attributed most anomalies to legacy data captured between 2011 and 2023.
He recalled that INEC had postponed a nationwide voter revalidation exercise planned for February 2026 until after the 2027 elections.
The decision, he explained, was intended to prevent possible voter disenfranchisement.
Amupitan said the commission had now resolved to address historical duplications in the existing register.
He said INEC, at its meeting on Monday directed the removal of previously flagged cases after proper verification.
He also clarified that many voters complaining about missing names had re-registered instead of applying for transfers.
According to him, ABIS automatically voided their duplicate registrations, leaving their original voter records intact.
On Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs), Amupitan said collection for Phases One and Two remained ongoing at Local Government Area (LGA) offices nationwide.
He added that distribution of transfer PVCs was also continuing.
Some PVCs for the third and final phase were being delivered and would be dispatched to states by the following week.
He said distribution would return to Registration Areas nationwide from Dec. 1.
The chairman appealed for patience from third-phase registrants, explaining that overseas printing of their cards was being concluded.
He reassured Nigerians that established operating procedures and the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) would enforce physical biometric authentication at polling units.
He said the measures would prevent multiple voting and strengthen electoral integrity.
“The response is evidence-led investigation, completed corrective action, and stronger preventive controls,” Amupitan said.
He added that INEC would continue publishing verifiable aggregate results while protecting personal information and ongoing investigations. (NAN)
