The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, says it has cleaned up the voter registration records and entries by removing invalid registrations and deceased persons ahead of the publication of the final voters’ register on December 15, 2026.
INEC Chairman Joash Amupitan disclosed this on Monday in Abuja while providing an update on the cleaning of the preliminary voters’ register.
He said the commission identified 1,608,660 invalid registrations and 873 records belonging to verified deceased persons during the exercise.
According to him, the clean-up followed complaints, objections and claims received during the public display of the preliminary register between October 9 and 15.
Amupitan said INEC recorded 11,088,238 records during the 2025/2026 Continuous Voter Registration exercise.
He explained that the commission had removed all confirmed invalid registrations, while deceased voters’ records were treated as a separate category.
“The cumulative total of confirmed invalid registrations removed after the objections, claims and complaints is 331,608, in addition to the 873 separately verified deceased voters’ records,” he said.
The INEC chairman further disclosed that 54 individuals across 10 states had been identified for allegedly manipulating the voter registration process.
He said the individuals could face disciplinary measures or prosecution, depending on the outcome of investigations.
Amupitan also clarified that several duplicate records, unusual photographs and strange names circulating online originated from the commission’s historical register covering 2011 to 2023.
He added that some voters who registered afresh after relocating, rather than transferring their existing registration, had their new records invalidated.
On the distribution of Permanent Voter Cards, PVCs, the INEC chairman said distribution for phases one and two was ongoing in local government areas, while phase three cards would be dispatched to states the following week.
He said PVC distribution would return to registration areas from December 1.
Amupitan assured Nigerians that the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, BVAS, would prevent multiple voting through fingerprint and facial recognition technology.
2027: INEC removes over 1.6m invalid voter records, deceased persons ahead of final register