The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has identified 54 persons across 10 states for alleged involvement in irregularities during voter registration, as part of a nationwide exercise that led to the removal of more than 1.6 million invalid records.
Titiansloaded reports that INEC Chairman, Prof Joash Amupitan (SAN), disclosed this on Monday while presenting the findings of the commission’s review of the preliminary voters’ register compiled from the 2025/2026 Continuous Voter Registration exercise.
He said the identified individuals would face administrative disciplinary measures and possible prosecution, following investigations into alleged breaches of established registration procedures.
According to Amupitan, the commission received 11,088,238 registration records from the three phases of the exercise. Its review, however, uncovered several questionable entries, including suspected multiple registrations and cases involving the misuse of procedures designed for exceptional registration circumstances.
The chairman said the commission’s Automated Biometric Identification System initially flagged 1,545,052 records for further investigation. He clarified that the system’s alerts did not automatically invalidate the entries, as each case had to undergo verification and adjudication.
Before the preliminary register was released, 1,277,052 registrations were confirmed invalid and excluded.
During the seven-day public display of the register from October 9 to 15, INEC received complaints and objections that led to the examination of another 268,000 cases. Of these, 217,722 were rejected, while 50,278 were verified and retained.
Further screening identified 113,886 additional invalid records, bringing the total number removed to 1,608,660. The commission also deleted 1,749 records of deceased persons following verification.
Amupitan said some of the irregularities involved historical registration records dating from 2011 to 2023, rather than only entries from the latest exercise. Public concerns had included duplicate registrations, unusual names and suspicious photographs, some of which were suspected to be AI-generated.
He added that the commission had identified personnel allegedly connected to deliberate violations and would investigate them further.
The INEC chairman said the review was part of efforts to strengthen the credibility of the national register, adding that the cleaned-up voters’ list would be published in December ahead of the 2027 general elections.
