INEC REMOVES 1.6 MILLION RECORDS FROM VOTERS' REGISTER, IDENTIFIES 54 STAFF IN 10 STATES AS COMPLICIT

INEC REMOVES 1.6 MILLION RECORDS FROM VOTERS' REGISTER, IDENTIFIES 54 STAFF IN 10 STATES AS COMPLICIT

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has announced the removal of 1,609,553 records from the national register of voters following a clean-up of the 2025/2026 Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise. It also revealed that 54 persons across ten states have been identified as complicit in the irregularities and face disciplinary action and possible prosecution.

INEC Chairman, Professor Joash Amupitan, SAN, disclosed this at a press conference on the display and publication of the Preliminary Voters Register held at the Commission’s Headquarters on Monday 9th November, 2026.

Prof. Amupitan said the figure comprises 1,608,660 confirmed invalid registrations and 873 records belonging to verified deceased persons, which were removed as a separate category. The Commission harvested 11,088,238 records from the three phases of the 2025/2026 CVR, and the Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS) initially flagged 1,545,052 of these for examination.

He cautioned that flagging does not equal invalidity. "A flagged record is not necessarily an invalid registration: automated screening identifies matters requiring review, while authorised adjudication determines the outcome," he said.

Before the Preliminary Register was published, 1,277,052 registrations had been confirmed invalid and excluded. A further 268,000 cases then went to adjudication following objections, claims and complaints received during the display. Of these, 217,722 were confirmed invalid and removed, while 50,278 were cleared as valid and retained. Additional screening identified 113,886 more invalid registrations, which were also removed, bringing the post-display removals to 331,608.

"The Commission confirms that the current register-cleaning exercise for the 2025/2026 Continuous Voters Registration (CVR) has been concluded," Prof. Amupitan said.

The chairman said the Commission considered the scale of the removals "significant enough to warrant an examination of how it occurred and those responsible for this." According to him, the technical assessment examined suspected multiple registrations, unusual registration patterns, substituted photographs and irregularities in registration transactions, and found that some registration personnel acted deliberately.

"The Commission found instances in which certain registration personnel deliberately circumvented established registration procedures and misused provisions intended for exceptional registration circumstances including for persons with disabilities," he said.

He added that the affected records had been identified and subjected to review and remediation, and that the personnel involved had been identified for further 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. To prevent a recurrence, the Commission is strengthening its registration controls with "enhanced biometric capture, authentication and verification safeguards."

The announcement follows complaints, claims and objections received during the display of the Preliminary Register at the ward level between 9 and 15 October 2026, and its subsequent online publication. Members of the public pointed to apparently artificial or manipulated photographs, duplicate registration attempts, unusual names and registration patterns, and deceased persons remaining on the register. Some alleged the irregularities were intentional and aimed at compromising the 2027 elections.

Prof. Amupitan said the Commission waited for the 14-day statutory period under Section 19(2) of the Electoral Act, 2026 to expire before responding. The Final Register of Voters is scheduled for publication on 15 December 2026, and he said final reconciliation, quality assurance and publication checks remain to ensure the approved changes are reflected.

However, the chairman stressed that the clean-up does not resolve the wider problem. Most of the duplicate names and pictures circulating on social media, he said, relate to the old register covering 2011 to 2023. "Cleaning the register of only the 2025/2026 Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise alone will not solve the problem identified," he said, warning that the final list would still carry over duplications from 2011 to 2023.

He explained that the current register evolved through successive registration and CVR exercises since 2011, using biometric and demographic data captured under "different technologies, operational arrangements and quality standards." He added that "significant historical integrity questions remain since 2011 and require a national, systematic response."

The Commission, at its meeting on Monday, 9 November 2026, decided to address the duplications in the old register. Cases already flagged through complaints, along with obvious cases on the register, are to be removed after proper verification.

INEC had announced a nationwide voter revalidation exercise in February 2026 but deferred it until after the elections, following stakeholder concerns about its proximity to the 2027 General Elections and its possible effect on voter participation. Prof. Amupitan said the postponement "did not suspend the Commission's existing mechanisms for maintaining the integrity of the Register," citing biometric screening, adjudication and statutory claims and objections.

Responding to complaints from voters who said their names were omitted, the chairman said most of those affected registered between 2011 and 2023. Instead of transferring their registration to a new location, they registered again. ABIS voided those second registrations, but the names remain at their previous locations, and the affected voters were advised to check there.

On Permanent Voter Cards, Prof. Amupitan said distribution of Phases 1 and 2 and of transferred PVCs is ongoing at LGAs nationwide. Some cards for the third and final phase are being delivered and will be dispatched to states by next week. From 1 December 2026, distribution will return to the Registration Areas. He appealed for patience from third-phase registrants, noting that the cards are produced outside the country.

The chairman also assured Nigerians that Election Day safeguards would guard against multiple voting. Under the Standard Operating Procedures for Presiding Officers, and with the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), "every voter" must be physically present at their designated polling unit and pass biometric authentication by fingerprint or facial recognition.

"The Commission remains committed both to removing confirmed invalid entries and to protecting eligible Nigerians from wrongful exclusion," he said, adding that INEC "will continue to communicate verifiable aggregate outcomes while protecting personal information and the integrity of ongoing investigations."

INEC AWAITS ADC COURT JUDGMENT, SAYS IT WILL NOT ACT ON SOCIAL MEDIA REPORTS; BANS WEB CAMERAS IN VOTER REGISTRATION

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said it is yet to receive the court judgment on the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and will not act on reports of it circulating on social media until it has received and studied the judgment.

The Chairman of the Commission, Prof. Joash Amupitan, said this on Monday 9th November, 2026, while responding to questions at a press conference at the Commission's headquarters in Abuja. He also announced a ban on web cameras in voter registration and the Commission's approval of an Artificial Intelligence (AI) governance framework.

"We don't just act on the basis of what is on the social media," he said.

Prof. Amupitan said judgments of this kind first come to the Chairman, who asks the relevant department for expert advice before the matter goes to the Commission.

"Normally when we receive judgment like that, it comes to the Commission, it comes first to the chairman who asks for the expertise advice from the relevant department before it's taken to the commission," he said.

He said the Commission would examine the circumstances of the case. "In this case, we are yet to receive the judgment. So the judgment is to be received and studied. I know I'm also a lawyer," he said, adding that he would personally go through the processes filed.

The Chairman recalled an earlier instance in which a purported Supreme Court judgment was posted on social media and trended. "The Supreme Court disowned itself from it, and even some people have been investigated," he said.

On AI-generated pictures found in the voter register, the Chairman said INEC had traced the access points used.

"We have found the number that were used through AI to infiltrate. You see, it takes just one person to compromise the password," he said.

He added that some of the access had been granted by authorised persons. "Some of those things are given in authority, and when that is done, you know what AI can do," he said.

Prof. Amupitan said the Director of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) had been directed to stop the use of web cameras and adopt an app-based camera.

"We have just directed the director of ICT now that our IVFs, this web camera, should not be allowed again. Instead, we should have an app camera. It is what is on the app that will take picture," he said.

He said the change would stop pictures from being imported from outside the system. "Don't go and use any URL and begin to import pictures here and there," he said. "When things happen like that, you don't want to fall into the same error."

The Chairman said the Commission had investigated the matter thoroughly and cleared many of the complaints received at its boards, online and on social media.

"Most of the complaints were thoroughly investigated, just to ensure fairness and justice, and to show that there is no hidden agenda," he said.

On additional safeguards, Prof. Amupitan said the Commission had an AI policy approved in 2025, before he became Chairman. The fast-changing nature of AI, he said, led it to develop a fuller framework.

"We decided as a commission to have a comprehensive, well-laid out AI governance framework that will govern responsible deployment of AI," he said.

He said the framework was developed jointly with the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) and the UK High Commission. It was sent for peer review and has since been returned, and the Commission also considered the ECOWAS protocol on the subject.

"Just today, the commission also approved the AI governance framework that will improve on what we used to have," he said. He added that the guidelines contain guarantees that will ensure AI is "deployed for proper purpose and for proper use."

On people involved in double registration, the Chairman said the matter had drawn wide concern, including from security agencies.

"Everyone is concerned, including the security agencies. So the security agencies are also making their own investigations," he said.

He said INEC staff found to have been involved would face administrative or internal disciplinary action. Where a crime had been committed, he said, they would also be referred to the appropriate law enforcement agencies for prosecution.

Asked about staff involvement, he said he had the list. "They are all staff of INEC, and we are taking some steps. We are not covering anything. What I told you today is the truth," he said.

Prof. Amupitan said that whenever INEC saw issues raised on social media, it flagged them and checked them against the register. He said some of the cases circulating, such as one person's name appearing with a different person's picture, dated from earlier exercises and not from the current one.

"Those that happen currently, that were able to have a digital log, digital evidence, must proceed against them," he said.

Asked what guarantee existed against loopholes in the register, the Chairman pointed to Section 19 of the Electoral Act.

"The law recognizes that there could be some form of imperfections. Mind you, we are managing over 100 million registered voters. So that is why there is this gap for complaint, objections, and claims," he said.

He said the process was meant to bring such problems to light. "This process is supposed to expose some of the things we are seeing now," he said.

Prof. Amupitan said the Commission had reviewed its ICT infrastructure and cybersecurity arrangements at Monday's meeting as part of preparations for the general election.

He described the recent incidents as an early warning. "Sometimes when you see like this happen, you take it in good faith, because it's an early warning for you to be on your guard," he said.

He said the Commission was taking important measures, "some of which we cannot begin to mention here."

On early voting for journalists and others on election duty, including INEC officials, the Chairman acknowledged the desire to vote. "Everybody would like to vote, you want to exercise your franchise," he said.

He said INEC had proposed early voting during the amendment of the Electoral Act, but it did not get the support of the National Assembly. "This is still not known to our law, but it's going to still be a process of advocacy to ensure that this is done," he said.

He said he had taken up the matter after his appointment. "Hopefully it will be addressed one day," he said.