INEC expunges 1.6m irregular voter records, identifies 54 officials for prosecution

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has removed 1,608,660 invalid registrations from the preliminary register of voters generated from the 2025/2026 Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise, while identifying 54 officials across 10 states for possible disciplinary action, including prosecution, over alleged manipulation of the registration process.

INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, disclosed this on Monday in Abuja while presenting the outcome of the commission’s technical assessment of the preliminary voters’ register, which was subjected to public scrutiny following widespread complaints about suspicious entries, multiple registrations and allegedly artificial intelligence-generated photographs.

The development comes amid renewed concerns over the credibility of Nigeria’s national voters’ register, following the discovery of questionable entries in the preliminary register published online by the commission on October 26, 2026.

The publication triggered public outrage after Nigerians drew attention to photographs suspected to have been generated or manipulated using artificial intelligence, unusual names, duplicate registrations and entries allegedly belonging to deceased persons.

Some of the questionable records circulated widely on social media, raising concerns about possible attempts to compromise the integrity of the register ahead of the 2027 general elections.

The controversy also revived longstanding concerns about deficiencies in INEC’s voter registration database, particularly allegations of multiple registrations, underage voters and discrepancies in personal information.

Similar complaints surfaced in November 2022 when the commission published its preliminary register ahead of the 2023 general elections. Nigerians reportedly identified instances of multiple registrations, missing photographs and suspected underage voters, with some entries bearing questionable dates of birth.

The concerns are not entirely new. The 2011 voter registration exercise also attracted criticism over incomplete and inaccurate records, while INEC subsequently removed more than 870,000 duplicate entries from the register before the 2011 general elections.

Against this background, the latest findings have renewed questions about the effectiveness of successive efforts by the electoral body to maintain an accurate and credible national voters’ database.

Speaking on the latest investigation, Amupitan said the commission’s technical assessment uncovered instances in which some registration personnel deliberately circumvented established procedures and abused provisions designed to accommodate exceptional registration circumstances, including those involving persons with disabilities.

He said 54 persons across 10 states had been identified as allegedly complicit in the irregularities and would face appropriate administrative and disciplinary measures.

“Fifty-four persons cutting across 10 states have been identified as complicit, and necessary disciplinary action will be taken against them, including possible prosecution,” the INEC chairman said.

He explained that the affected records had been identified, reviewed and corrected, while the officials implicated in the infractions had been identified for further administrative investigation.

According to him, the technical assessment examined suspected multiple registrations, unusual registration patterns, substituted photographs and irregularities associated with registration transactions.

The commission, he added, was strengthening its registration controls through improved biometric capture, authentication and verification safeguards to prevent a recurrence.

1.6m registrations invalidated

Providing a breakdown of the exercise, Amupitan said INEC harvested 11,088,238 registration records from the three phases of the 2025/2026 CVR exercise.

He disclosed that the commission’s Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS) initially flagged 1,545,052 records for further examination.

However, he clarified that being flagged by the automated system did not automatically establish that a registration was invalid, as each case was subjected to further scrutiny and authorised adjudication.

Following the display of the preliminary register at registration areas nationwide between October 9 and 15, the commission also reviewed 268,000 additional cases arising from public complaints, claims and objections.

Of these, 217,722 registrations were invalidated, while 50,278 were cleared and retained in the register.

Amupitan said the commission, at its meeting on Monday, November 9, directed that records already flagged through public complaints, as well as obvious cases of irregularities, should be removed after proper verification.

Historical irregularities under investigation

The INEC chairman, however, cautioned that the problems affecting the national voters’ register were not limited to the latest registration exercise.

He disclosed that the commission was also examining historical irregularities dating back to 2011, noting that several duplicate names and suspicious photographs circulating on social media were associated with registration exercises conducted between 2011 and 2023.

According to him, the national register has evolved through successive registration and continuous voter registration exercises, involving different generations of technology, operational arrangements and data quality standards.

He explained that some of the discrepancies currently attracting public attention might have originated from earlier registration exercises rather than the 2025/2026 CVR exercise.

The chairman assured Nigerians that INEC would continue investigating the circumstances surrounding the irregularities and implement additional measures to protect the integrity of the national voters’ register.