2027: INEC To Sanction 54 Officials Over Voter Register Irregularities

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has identified 54 registration personnel across 10 states for possible disciplinary action, including prosecution, over irregularities uncovered in the voters register ahead of the 2027 general elections.

INEC Chairman, Professor Joash Amupitan, SAN, disclosed this on Monday while addressing journalists on the outcome of the review of the Preliminary Register of Voters displayed nationwide between October 9 and 15, 2026.

Amupitan also announced that the commission had removed 1,609,553 records from the voters register following a nationwide cleaning exercise.

He said the affected records comprised 1,608,660 confirmed invalid registrations and 873 records belonging to verified deceased persons.

He explained that the commission undertook the exercise following complaints, claims and objections raised by Nigerians over suspected multiple registrations, manipulated photographs, unusual names and registration patterns, as well as the inclusion of deceased persons in the preliminary register.

According to him, the commission received 11,088,238 registration records from the three phases of the 2025/2026 Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise, out of which its Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS) initially flagged 1,545,052 for further examination.

He clarified that being flagged by the automated system did not automatically invalidate a registration, as each case was subjected to further examination and authorised adjudication.

The INEC chairman said 1,277,052 registrations had been confirmed invalid and excluded before the publication of the Preliminary Register.

He added that following the public display and subsequent complaints, another 268,000 cases underwent adjudication, with 217,722 confirmed invalid and removed, while 50,278 were cleared and retained.

Amupitan further disclosed that additional screening identified 113,886 more invalid registrations, bringing the cumulative number of confirmed invalid records removed after the public objections and review to 331,608.

The figure, he said, was in addition to the 1,277,052 registrations earlier excluded, bringing the total number of invalid registrations removed to 1,608,660.

The commission also removed 873 records of verified deceased voters, bringing the combined number of records removed to 1,609,553.

On how the irregularities occurred, Amupitan said the commission’s technical assessment revealed cases of suspected multiple registrations, substituted photographs and irregularities associated with registration transactions.

He said some registration personnel deliberately circumvented established procedures and abused provisions designed to accommodate exceptional registration circumstances, including registration arrangements for persons with disabilities.

He said the affected records had been identified and subjected to appropriate review and remediation, while the personnel involved had been identified for further administrative investigation.

According to him, INEC is strengthening its registration controls through improved biometric capture, authentication and verification safeguards to prevent a recurrence.

However, the chairman cautioned that the cleaning exercise covering the 2025/2026 CVR alone would not resolve all the integrity concerns surrounding the national register, as several suspected duplications originated from historical registration exercises conducted between 2011 and 2023.

He noted that most of the duplicated names and photographs circulated on social media during the controversy related to the historical register rather than the latest registration exercise.

Amupitan disclosed that the commission, at its meeting on Monday, November 9, 2026, decided to address the historical irregularities and directed that cases already flagged through public complaints and obvious irregularities identified in the register should be removed after proper verification.

The commission had earlier announced plans for a nationwide voter revalidation exercise in February 2026 to strengthen the accuracy and reliability of the register, particularly records captured using older registration technologies.

However, he said the exercise was postponed following concerns by stakeholders over its proximity to the 2027 general elections and the possibility of disenfranchising eligible voters.

He stressed that the postponement did not suspend existing mechanisms for protecting the integrity of the register, including biometric screening, adjudication and statutory claims and objections.

On complaints by some voters that their names were missing from the preliminary register, the INEC chairman said investigations showed that most of the affected persons had registered between 2011 and 2023 but subsequently registered again instead of transferring their voter registration to their new locations.

He explained that the subsequent registrations were invalidated by the biometric screening system, while their original registrations remained in their previous locations.

He therefore advised affected voters to check the register at their former locations.

Amupitan also announced that the distribution of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) for the first and second phases, including transferred cards, was ongoing at various local government areas across the country.

He said some PVCs from the third and final phase were being delivered and would be dispatched to states from next week, adding that distribution would return to Registration Areas nationwide from December 1, 2026.

The chairman appealed to Nigerians who participated in the third phase of the registration exercise to exercise patience, explaining that the production of the cards was being handled outside the country.

He assured Nigerians that the commission remained committed to removing invalid entries without wrongfully excluding eligible voters from the electoral process.

He also maintained that the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and established election-day procedures would provide additional safeguards against multiple accreditation and voting during the 2027 general elections.

According to him, voters would be required to appear physically at their designated polling units for biometric authentication through fingerprints or facial recognition, with the system designed to prevent multiple accreditation.

Amupitan said the final register would be published on December 15, 2026, after reconciliation, quality assurance and other publication checks.

He assured Nigerians that INEC would continue to provide verifiable information on the cleaning exercise while protecting personal data and the integrity of ongoing investigations.