Commission Completes Major Voters’ Register Clean-Up, Targets Improved Electoral Credibility Ahead of 2027 General Elections.
Enugu Media Village (EMV), the Most Updated Online News Platform — November 10, 2026.
THE INDEPENDENT NATIONAL Electoral Commission (INEC) has removed 1,608,660 confirmed invalid voter registrations from the preliminary national register and identified 54 officials across 10 states for possible disciplinary action, including prosecution, over alleged irregularities in the registration process.
INEC Chairman, Professor Joash Amupitan (SAN), disclosed this on Monday, November 9, 2026, during a press briefing in Abuja on the outcome of the commission’s review of the preliminary register of voters ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The commission also confirmed the removal of 873 records belonging to verified deceased persons, bringing the combined number of deleted records to 1,609,553.
According to the INEC chairman, the exercise followed public complaints, claims and objections received after the preliminary voters’ register was displayed at registration areas nationwide between October 9 and 15, 2026, and subsequently published online.
Amupitan explained that the commission received 11,088,238 registration records from the three phases of the 2025/2026 Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise. These records were subjected to screening through the Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS), which initially flagged 1,545,052 entries for further examination.
He clarified that being flagged by the automated system did not automatically mean a registration was invalid, stressing that each case underwent further investigation and authorised adjudication before a final decision was reached.
A breakdown of the review showed that 1,277,052 registrations were confirmed invalid before the publication of the preliminary register. Following public complaints, another 268,000 cases were examined, resulting in the removal of 217,722 invalid registrations, while 50,278 were cleared and retained.
Additional screening subsequently identified another 113,886 invalid registrations for removal.
On the officials implicated in the irregularities, the INEC chairman disclosed that investigations uncovered instances in which some registration personnel allegedly circumvented established procedures and abused special provisions designed to accommodate exceptional registration circumstances, including those involving persons with disabilities.
He said 54 individuals across 10 states had been identified as allegedly complicit, adding that the commission would take appropriate administrative and disciplinary measures, including possible prosecution where necessary.
The commission also disclosed that it was strengthening its registration procedures through improved biometric capture, authentication and verification safeguards to prevent a recurrence.
Meanwhile, INEC indicated that final reconciliation, quality assurance and publication checks would continue ahead of the release of the final voters’ register, scheduled for December 15, 2026.
The development forms part of the commission’s broader efforts to address concerns surrounding the integrity of the national voters’ register and strengthen public confidence in the electoral process ahead of the 2027 general elections.
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