INEC removes 1.6m records From Voters’ Register

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has removed 1,609,533 records from the national register of voters following a nationwide clean-up exercise that uncovered multiple registrations, manipulated photographs, irregular registration patterns and entries belonging to deceased persons.

The INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, disclosed this while briefing journalists on the outcome of the review of the Preliminary Register of Voters ahead of the 2027 general elections.

He said the deleted records comprised 1,608,660 confirmed invalid registrations and 873 records belonging to verified deceased voters.

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According to him, the exercise was part of efforts to address longstanding integrity concerns surrounding the national voters’ register, which has evolved through successive registration and Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercises since 2011.

Amupitan explained that the register contained biometric and demographic data collected under different technologies, operational arrangements and quality standards, creating historical challenges that required systematic attention.

He said the commission conducted the review in line with Section 19(2) of the Electoral Act, 2026, which provides for public objections, claims and complaints concerning the Preliminary Register of Voters within 14 days of its display.

He added that the commission was expected to verify the complaints and make necessary corrections before publishing the Final Register of Voters on December 15, 2026.

Giving details of the registration exercise, the INEC chairman said the commission harvested 11,088,238 registration records from the three phases of the CVR exercise.

He said the Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS) initially flagged 1,545,052 records for further examination, noting that being flagged did not automatically mean that a registration was invalid.

According to him, 1,277,052 registrations were confirmed invalid and excluded before the publication of the Preliminary Register.

He said a subsequent screening identified another 331,608 invalid registrations, bringing the total number of invalid registrations removed to 1,608,660.

The additional 331,608 records were removed following the review, while the 873 records belonging to deceased voters were treated separately.

Amupitan said the findings exposed serious weaknesses in the registration process and raised concerns about the conduct of some personnel involved in the exercise.

He disclosed that the commission’s technical assessment uncovered deliberate attempts to circumvent established registration procedures, including the misuse of provisions designed to accommodate exceptional registration circumstances, particularly those involving persons with disabilities.

The chairman said the affected records had been identified and subjected to verification and remediation, while personnel allegedly involved in the infractions had been identified for administrative investigation.

“Fifty-four persons cutting across ten States have been identified as complicit and necessary disciplinary action will be taken against them including possible prosecution,” he said.

The INEC chairman, however, warned that the latest exercise had not completely resolved the integrity challenges associated with the national voters’ register.

He said most complaints about multiple registrations and suspicious photographs circulating on social media concerned historical records captured between 2011 and 2023, rather than the latest registration exercise.

Amupitan explained that the commission’s decision to postpone the proposed nationwide voter revalidation exercise until after the 2027 elections did not mean it had abandoned efforts to identify and remove invalid entries.

He said INEC, at its meeting on Monday, resolved to address outstanding duplications in the historical register, directing that records already flagged through public complaints and obvious cases identified internally should be removed after proper verification.

The chairman also addressed complaints by some voters who could not find their names at their current locations.

He explained that some affected persons had registered again after relocating instead of following the prescribed procedure for transferring their existing registrations to their new locations.

According to him, the biometric screening system invalidated their subsequent registrations, while their original records remained at their previous polling units.

He advised such voters to check their former registration locations rather than assume that their names had been completely removed from the national register.

INEC Moves Against AI-Generated Registration Photos

On allegations that artificial intelligence-generated photographs were used to compromise voter registration, Amupitan confirmed that the commission had identified cases involving manipulated images and was introducing additional safeguards.

He said INEC had directed its Director of Information and Communication Technology to discontinue the use of external webcam-based image uploads for voter registration.

Under the new directive, photographs must be captured through an approved application to strengthen the verification process and prevent manipulation.

“You see, it takes just one person to compromise the password. Some of those things are given in authority. And when that is done, you know what AI can do,” he said.

The chairman also disclosed that the commission had approved a comprehensive Artificial Intelligence Governance Framework to regulate the responsible deployment of AI in its operations.

He said the framework was developed in collaboration with partners, including the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) and the British High Commission, and had undergone peer review before receiving INEC’s approval.

Amupitan added that security agencies were conducting independent investigations into the irregularities, noting that cases involving criminal conduct would be forwarded to appropriate law enforcement agencies for prosecution.

He said the commission was also strengthening its information technology infrastructure and cybersecurity measures ahead of the 2027 elections.

INEC Assures Nigerians Over 2027 Elections

Despite the concerns raised by the findings, Amupitan maintained that the commission had safeguards to prevent multiple accreditation and voting during the 2027 general elections.

He cited the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), which requires voters to appear physically at their designated polling units for biometric authentication using either fingerprints or facial recognition.

According to him, the system verifies voters’ identities against the register and records successful accreditation, with safeguards designed to prevent an individual from being accredited more than once.

The chairman said the complaints and objections received during the display of the Preliminary Register demonstrated the importance of the statutory process provided under the Electoral Act.

He maintained that the process allowed Nigerians to identify irregularities and draw the commission’s attention to questionable entries before the publication of the final register.

Amupitan reiterated INEC’s commitment to protecting eligible voters from wrongful exclusion while ensuring that confirmed invalid records were removed from the register ahead of the 2027 general elections.