“54 Persons Identified For Possible Prosecution” — INEC Chairman Amupitan Announces Removal Of 1.6m Invalid Voter Records

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has removed 1,609,533 records from the national voters’ register following a nationwide clean-up exercise that uncovered multiple registrations, manipulated photographs, irregular registration patterns and entries belonging to deceased persons.

The Chairman of INEC, Professor Joash Amupitan, disclosed this while briefing journalists on the outcome of the review of the Preliminary Register of Voters ahead of the 2027 general elections.

Amupitan explained that the affected records comprised 1,608,660 confirmed invalid registrations and 873 records belonging to verified deceased voters.

He said the exercise was part of the Commission’s efforts to address longstanding integrity concerns surrounding the national voters’ register, which had evolved through successive registration and Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercises since 2011.

According to him, the register contains biometric and demographic data collected under different technologies, operational arrangements and quality standards, resulting in historical challenges requiring systematic attention.

The INEC chairman explained that the review was conducted in accordance with Section 19(2) of the Electoral Act 2026, which provides for public objections, claims and complaints concerning the Preliminary Register of Voters within 14 days of its display.

He said the Commission was required to verify complaints and make the necessary corrections before publishing the Final Register of Voters on December 15, 2026.

Providing a breakdown of the exercise, Amupitan disclosed that INEC harvested 11,088,238 registration records from the three phases of the CVR exercise.

He said the Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS) initially flagged 1,545,052 records for further examination, explaining that being flagged did not automatically mean a registration was invalid.

According to him, 1,277,052 registrations were subsequently confirmed invalid and excluded before the publication of the Preliminary Register.

He disclosed that further screening identified another 331,608 invalid registrations, bringing the total number of confirmed invalid registrations removed to 1,608,660.

The additional 331,608 records were removed following the review, while 873 records belonging to deceased voters were treated separately, bringing the overall number of affected records to 1,609,533.

Amupitan said the findings exposed weaknesses in the registration process and raised concerns about the conduct of some personnel involved in the exercise.

He revealed that the Commission’s technical assessment uncovered deliberate attempts to circumvent established registration procedures, including the misuse of provisions designed to accommodate exceptional registration circumstances, particularly those involving persons with disabilities.

The chairman explained that the affected records had been identified and subjected to verification and remediation, while personnel allegedly involved in the irregularities had also been identified for administrative investigation.

“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 said.

He, however, cautioned that the latest clean-up exercise had not completely resolved the integrity challenges associated with the national voters’ register.

According to him, most complaints concerning multiple registrations and suspicious photographs circulating on social media related to historical records captured between 2011 and 2023, rather than the latest registration exercise.

Amupitan explained that the Commission’s decision to postpone the proposed nationwide voter revalidation exercise until after the 2027 general elections did not mean that efforts to identify and remove invalid entries had been abandoned.

He disclosed that INEC, at its meeting on Monday, resolved to address outstanding duplications in the historical register.

The Commission consequently directed that records already flagged through public complaints and obvious cases identified internally should be removed after proper verification.

The chairman also addressed complaints from voters who could not locate their names at their current places of residence.

He explained that some affected persons had registered again after relocating instead of following the prescribed procedure for transferring their existing registrations to their new locations.

According to him, the biometric screening system invalidated their subsequent registrations, while their original records remained at their previous polling units.

He advised such voters to check their former registration locations rather than assume that their names had been completely removed from the national register.

On allegations that artificial intelligence-generated photographs were used to compromise voter registration, Amupitan confirmed that the Commission had identified cases involving manipulated images and was introducing additional safeguards to prevent a recurrence.

He disclosed that INEC had directed its Director of Information and Communication Technology to discontinue the use of external webcam-based image uploads for voter registration.

Under the new directive, photographs must be captured through an approved application to strengthen the verification process and prevent manipulation.

“You see, it takes just one person to compromise the password. Some of those things are given in authority. And when that is done, you know what AI can do,” he stated.

The INEC chairman also announced that the Commission had approved a comprehensive Artificial Intelligence Governance Framework to regulate the responsible deployment of AI in its operations.

He explained that the framework was developed in collaboration with partners, including the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) and the British High Commission, and had undergone peer review before receiving INEC’s approval.

Amupitan further disclosed that security agencies were conducting independent investigations into the registration irregularities, adding that cases involving criminal conduct would be referred to the appropriate law enforcement agencies for prosecution.

He said INEC was also strengthening its information technology infrastructure and cybersecurity measures ahead of the 2027 general elections.

Despite the irregularities uncovered during the review, Amupitan maintained that the Commission had safeguards designed to prevent multiple accreditation and voting during the forthcoming elections.

He cited the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), which requires voters to appear physically at their designated polling units for biometric authentication using either fingerprints or facial recognition.

According to him, the system verifies voters’ identities against the register and records successful accreditation, with safeguards designed to prevent an individual from being accredited more than once.

The chairman said complaints and objections received during the display of the Preliminary Register demonstrated the importance of the statutory review process under the Electoral Act.

He explained that the process allowed Nigerians to identify irregularities and draw the Commission’s attention to questionable entries before the publication of the final register.

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