INEC deletes invalid, lifeless voters, to sanction 54 staffers

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has eliminated a complete of 1,609,553 data from the nationwide voters register.

The Commission additionally mentioned it recognized 54 registration personnel throughout 10 states for potential disciplinary motion, together with prosecution, over irregularities uncovered within the voters register forward of the 2027 common elections.

INEC Chairman Prof Joash Amupitan, SAN, disclosed this Monday at a press convention on the end result of the assessment of the Preliminary Register of Voters displayed nationwide between October 9 and 15, 2026.

He mentioned, “To forestall recurrence, the Commission is strengthening its registration controls with enhanced biometric seize, authentication and verification safeguards.

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

Amupitan mentioned the affected data comprised 1,608,660 confirmed invalid registrations and 873 data belonging to verified deceased individuals.

He defined that the fee undertook the train following complaints, claims and objections raised by Nigerians over suspected a number of registrations, manipulated images, uncommon names and registration patterns, in addition to the inclusion of deceased individuals within the preliminary register.

 According to him, the fee acquired 11,088,238 registration data from the three phases of the 2025/2026 Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) train, out of which its Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS) initially flagged 1,545,052 for additional examination.

 He defined that being flagged by the automated system didn’t mechanically invalidate a registration, as every case was subjected to additional examination and authorised adjudication.

 The INEC boss defined that 1,277,052 registrations had earlier been confirmed invalid and excluded earlier than the publication of the Preliminary Register.

 Prof Amupitan acknowledged that the current train adopted the general public show and subsequent complaints, one other 268,000 circumstances underwent adjudication, with 217,722 confirmed invalid and eliminated, whereas 50,278 had been cleared and retained.

 He additional disclosed that extra screening recognized 113,886 extra invalid registrations, bringing the cumulative variety of confirmed invalid data eliminated after the general public objections and assessment to 331,608.

The determine, he mentioned, was along with the 1,277,052 registrations earlier excluded, bringing the overall variety of invalid registrations eliminated to 1,608,660.

The fee had earlier introduced plans for a nationwide voter revalidation train in February 2026 to strengthen the accuracy and reliability of the register, significantly data captured utilizing older registration applied sciences.

 However, he mentioned the train was postponed following considerations by stakeholders over its proximity to the 2027 common elections and the opportunity of disenfranchising eligible voters.

On complaints by some voters that their names had been lacking from the preliminary register, the INEC chairman mentioned investigations confirmed that a lot of the affected individuals had registered between 2011 and 2023 however subsequently registered once more as a substitute of transferring their voter registration to their new areas.

He defined that the following registrations had been invalidated by the biometric screening system, whereas their authentic registrations remained of their earlier areas.

He, due to this fact, suggested affected voters to verify the register at their former areas.

Amupitan mentioned the ultimate register could be revealed on December 15, 2026, after reconciliation, high quality assurance and different publication checks.