KEY POINTS

• INEC removed 1,608,660 invalid entries from the preliminary register following a nationwide review of the 2025/2026 voter registration exercise.
• The commission identified 54 registration officials in 10 states for possible disciplinary action or prosecution.
• The cleaned-up voter register is scheduled for publication on December 16, 2026.

MAIN STORY

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has removed 1,608,660 invalid entries from its preliminary register of voters after reviewing registrations recorded during the 2025/2026 Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise.

The commission also identified 54 registration officials across 10 states for possible disciplinary action, including prosecution, over alleged irregularities uncovered during the exercise.

INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, disclosed this on Monday while presenting the outcome of the review, which followed complaints and objections raised by Nigerians after the preliminary register was displayed nationwide between October 9 and 15.

Amupitan said the commission received 11,088,238 registration records across the three phases of the CVR exercise. Its Automated Biometric Identification System initially flagged 1,545,052 entries for further examination.

However, he explained that being flagged by the system did not automatically make a registration invalid. Each record was subjected to additional scrutiny and authorised adjudication before the commission reached a decision.

INEC also removed 1,749 records belonging to deceased persons. Of these, 876 had been verified, while another 873 were identified during the review.

The exercise followed public concerns about the integrity of the preliminary register, including suspected artificial intelligence-generated photographs, multiple registrations, unusual names and entries belonging to deceased persons. Some questionable photographs circulated on social media, raising concerns about the effectiveness of the commission’s registration and biometric verification procedures.

Amupitan said the 54 officials identified during the review could face disciplinary action or prosecution where investigations establish their involvement in the irregularities.

INEC is expected to publish the cleaned-up register on December 16, 2026, in line with the Electoral Act, ahead of the January 16 and February 6, 2027 elections.

THE ISSUES

The voter register is the official record of people eligible to vote. Its accuracy matters because it determines who can participate in an election and provides the basis for planning polling arrangements.

Invalid entries can undermine confidence in the electoral process, particularly where they involve duplicate registrations, false identities or records belonging to deceased people. If such entries remain in the register, they can create opportunities for abuse and make it harder to establish the number of legitimate voters.

INEC’s use of biometric checks is intended to identify registrations that may belong to the same person. However, the chairman’s explanation that flagged records required further adjudication is important. An automated system can identify suspicious matches, but those matches still need to be examined before a person’s registration is rejected.

The identification of 54 registration officials also raises questions about the conduct of the registration process. While INEC has not established the culpability of all those identified, possible prosecution suggests the commission is examining whether some irregularities resulted from misconduct by personnel responsible for capturing voter information.

The scale of the clean-up is significant. The 1,608,660 entries removed represent a substantial portion of the 11.09 million records received during the exercise. However, the commission’s distinction between records flagged by its system and entries ultimately removed means the two figures should not be treated as interchangeable.

WHAT’S NEXT

INEC plans to publish the revised register on December 16, 2026. The commission’s handling of the remaining complaints, investigations into registration officials and the final publication will be important in determining whether the clean-up addresses the concerns raised during the preliminary display.

BOTTOM LINE

INEC has removed more than 1.6 million invalid entries from the preliminary voter register and identified 54 officials for possible sanctions. The next test is whether the commission can produce an accurate and credible final register ahead of the 2027 general elections.