INEC Removes 1.6 Million Invalid Voter Registrations Ahead of 2027 Elections

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has removed 1,608,660 invalid registrations from the preliminary national register of voters following a nationwide review of records generated during the 2025/2026 Continuous Voter Registration exercise. This move aims to address irregularities in the voters' register and ensure the integrity of the electoral process. INEC received 11,088,238 registration records from the three phases of the CVR exercise.

INEC Chairman, Prof Joash Amupitan, disclosed that the commission's Automated Biometric Identification System initially flagged 1,545,052 records for further examination. However, being flagged by the system did not automatically mean a registration was invalid, as each record underwent further scrutiny and authorised adjudication. A total of 1,277,052 registrations were confirmed invalid and excluded before the preliminary register was published.

During the seven-day display exercise held between October 9 and 15, the commission received complaints, claims and objections, leading to the review of another 268,000 cases. Of these, 217,722 were confirmed invalid and removed, while 50,278 were cleared and retained. An additional screening exercise identified 113,886 more invalid registrations, bringing the total number of invalid records removed after the review to 331,608.

The INEC chairman said the commission's technical assessment uncovered deliberate attempts to bypass established registration procedures, including the misuse of provisions meant for exceptional registration circumstances, particularly those involving persons with disabilities. A total of 54 persons across 10 states had been identified as being involved in the infractions. Necessary disciplinary action will be taken against them, including possible prosecution.

The review followed public criticism of the preliminary register, with Nigerians and civil society organisations raising concerns over suspected artificial intelligence-generated photographs, duplicate registrations, unusual names and entries belonging to deceased persons. INEC also removed 1,749 records belonging to deceased persons after verification.

Amupitan warned that the latest exercise had not completely resolved the integrity concerns surrounding the national register, as some irregularities predated the 2025/2026 registration exercise. The commission's decision to postpone the proposed nationwide voter revalidation exercise until after the 2027 elections did not prevent it from using existing mechanisms to identify and remove invalid entries.

INEC will publish the cleaned-up register of voters in December ahead of the 2027 general elections. The commission directed that records flagged through public complaints and obvious cases identified internally be removed after proper verification.

Key points

• 1.6 million invalid voter registrations were removed from Nigeria's national register ahead of the 2027 elections.
• 54 officials face possible disciplinary action for attempting to bypass registration procedures.
• The cleaned-up register of voters will be published in December.