Commission says 54 registration officials in 10 states face disciplinary action over alleged manipulation ahead of 2027 general elections.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has removed 1,609,553 records from the national voters’ register following a clean-up of the 2025/2026 Continuous Voter Registration exercise.
INEC Chairman, Professor Joash Amupitan, disclosed this at a press conference on Monday, November 9, 2026, explaining that the affected records comprised 1,608,660 invalid registrations and 873 entries belonging to deceased persons.
Professor Amupitan said the Commission’s Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS) initially flagged more than 1.5 million records for further examination, with subsequent reviews uncovering duplicate registrations, suspicious photographs and other irregularities.
He explained that being flagged by the system did not automatically render a registration invalid, as each case underwent further verification and adjudication.
The INEC chairman further disclosed that out of 268,000 additional cases reviewed following public complaints and objections, 217,722 were invalidated, while 50,278 were cleared and retained in the register.
He also revealed that 54 registration personnel across ten states had been identified for deliberately manipulating registration procedures, including the misuse of provisions for exceptional registration.
According to him, the affected officials will face disciplinary measures and possible prosecution, while the Commission strengthens its biometric verification systems and other safeguards.
The clean-up exercise followed public complaints raised during the October display of the preliminary voters’ register, amid concerns over the credibility of the register ahead of the 2027 general elections.
