The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it has removed more than 1.6 million invalid registrations from the preliminary voters' register ahead of the 2027 general elections.
INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, disclosed this on Monday during a press briefing in Abuja, following public concerns over suspected artificial intelligence-generated photographs, duplicate registrations and names of deceased persons on the register.
He said the commission had also removed 873 records belonging to verified deceased persons and identified 54 officials across 10 states for disciplinary action over their alleged involvement in registration irregularities.
Amupitan explained that INEC harvested 11,088,238 registration records from the three phases of the 2025-2026 Continuous Voter Registration exercise.
According to him, the commission's Automated Biometric Identification System initially flagged 1,545,052 records for further investigation, although being flagged did not automatically make a registration invalid.
He said 217,722 of the 268,000 cases reviewed following public complaints were found invalid, while 50,278 were confirmed valid and retained.
An additional 113,886 invalid registrations were subsequently identified and removed.
"The commission confirms that the current register-cleaning exercise for the 2025/2026 Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) has been concluded," Amupitan said.
He added that 54 people had been identified as complicit in the irregularities, warning that they could face disciplinary action, including prosecution.
The chairman said some registration officers deliberately bypassed established procedures and abused provisions for exceptional registration circumstances.
He also explained that some duplicate records circulating online dated back to registration exercises conducted between 2011 and 2023.
INEC said the final voters' register would be published on December 15, 2026.
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