INEC removes 1.6m invalid registrations from voters’ register

INEC says it has struck off about 1.6 million invalid voter registrations and will discipline 54 officials, after the preliminary register drew complaints over fake photos and duplicates.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has removed 1,608,660 invalid registrations from the preliminary register of voters after a nationwide review, Punch reports.

INEC Chairman Prof Joash Amupitan disclosed this on Monday. The commission also removed 1,749 records of deceased persons. It received 11,088,238 records from the 2025/2026 Continuous Voter Registration exercise.

The system first flagged 1,545,052 records, but Amupitan said being flagged did not make a registration invalid. After a seven-day display exercise, 331,608 more invalid records were removed, on top of 1,277,052 excluded earlier.

The preliminary register drew criticism over suspected AI-generated photographs, duplicate registrations and entries for dead people.

Amupitan said the review found deliberate circumvention of registration procedures. “Fifty-four persons across ten states have been identified as complicit, and necessary disciplinary action will be taken against them, including possible prosecution,” he said.

He said most complaints related to records from 2011 to 2023. INEC will publish the cleaned-up register in December.