INEC Identifies 54 Officials Over Voter Register Irregularities

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has identified 54 registration officials across 10 states for possible disciplinary action, including prosecution, over irregularities uncovered in the national voters register ahead of the 2027 general elections.

INEC Chairman, Professor Joash Amupitan, SAN, disclosed this on Monday, November 9, 2026, while addressing journalists on the outcome of the review of the Preliminary Register of Voters.

POLITICS NIGERIA reports that the voter register were displayed nationwide between October 9 and 15.

Amupitan said the commission had identified the officials following investigations into suspicious registrations, manipulated photographs, multiple entries and other irregularities discovered during the voter registration exercise.

He explained that some registration personnel deliberately circumvented established procedures and abused provisions designed to accommodate exceptional registration circumstances, including special arrangements for persons with disabilities.

According to the INEC chairman, the commission’s technical assessment revealed cases of suspected multiple registrations, substituted photographs and irregularities associated with registration transactions.

He said the affected officials had been identified and would face further administrative investigations, with possible disciplinary measures and prosecution depending on the outcome of the investigations.

The development comes amid growing concerns over the credibility of Nigeria’s voters register after the preliminary register attracted public criticism over suspected artificial intelligence-generated photographs, duplicate entries and the inclusion of deceased persons.

Amupitan also disclosed that INEC had removed 1,609,553 records from the voters register following its nationwide cleaning exercise.

The affected records comprised 1,608,660 confirmed invalid registrations and 873 records belonging to persons verified to be deceased.

He explained that the commission received 11,088,238 registration records from the three phases of the 2025/2026 Continuous Voter Registration exercise, out of which its Automated Biometric Identification System initially flagged 1,545,052 records for further examination.

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

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

Following the public display of the register and subsequent complaints, another 268,000 cases underwent adjudication. Of this number, 217,722 were confirmed invalid and removed, while 50,278 were cleared and retained.

The commission also identified an additional 113,886 invalid registrations during further screening, bringing the total number of invalid records identified during the review to 331,608.

When combined with the 1,277,052 registrations earlier excluded, the total number of invalid registrations removed stood at 1,608,660.

The chairman said the additional 873 records of verified deceased persons brought the total number of records removed from the register to 1,609,553.

Amupitan noted that the cleaning exercise was necessary following complaints and objections from Nigerians over unusual names, suspicious registration patterns, manipulated photographs and multiple registrations.

He, however, warned that the exercise covering the 2025/2026 registration alone would not resolve all the integrity concerns surrounding the national voters register.

According to him, several suspected duplicate registrations originated from historical registration exercises conducted between 2011 and 2023.

He explained that most of the duplicated names and photographs circulated on social media during the controversy were connected to the historical register rather than the latest registration exercise.

The INEC chairman disclosed that the commission, at its meeting on Monday, November 9, decided to address the historical irregularities and directed that cases already flagged through public complaints, as well as obvious irregularities identified in the register, should be removed after proper verification.

He recalled that INEC had earlier announced plans for a nationwide voter revalidation exercise in February 2026 to improve the accuracy and reliability of the register, particularly records captured using older registration technologies.

However, the exercise was postponed following concerns raised by stakeholders about its proximity to the 2027 general elections and the possibility of disenfranchising eligible voters.

Amupitan stressed that the postponement did not mean the commission had suspended other measures for protecting the integrity of the voters register, including biometric screening, adjudication and statutory claims and objections.

Addressing complaints from some Nigerians who claimed that their names were missing from the preliminary register, the chairman said investigations showed that most of the affected persons had registered between 2011 and 2023 but subsequently registered again instead of transferring their voter registration to their new locations.

He explained that the subsequent registrations were invalidated by the biometric screening system, while their original registrations remained in their former locations.

He therefore advised affected voters to check the register at their previous registration locations.

On the distribution of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs), Amupitan said the exercise for the first and second phases of registration, including transferred cards, was ongoing at various local government areas across the country.

He added that some PVCs from the third and final phase were being delivered and would be dispatched to states from the following week.

According to him, distribution would return to Registration Areas nationwide from December 1, 2026.

The chairman appealed to Nigerians who participated in the third phase of the registration exercise to be patient, explaining that the production of their cards was being handled outside the country.

He assured Nigerians that INEC remained committed to removing invalid entries without wrongfully excluding eligible voters from the electoral process.

Amupitan also maintained that the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and established election-day procedures would provide additional safeguards against multiple accreditation and voting during the 2027 general elections.

He explained that voters would be required to appear physically at their designated polling units for biometric authentication through fingerprints or facial recognition, with the system designed to prevent multiple accreditation.

The INEC chairman said the final cleaned-up voters register would be published on December 15, 2026, after reconciliation, quality assurance and other necessary publication checks.

He assured Nigerians that the commission would continue to provide verifiable information about the cleaning exercise while protecting personal data and the integrity of ongoing investigations.