The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has removed 1,608,660 fake voter registrations from the preliminary register of voters, following a nationwide review of entries submitted during the 2025/2026 Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise.

INEC Chairman Prof Joash Amupitan (SAN) announced the removal on Monday while briefing journalists on the outcome of the review. He said the commission had received 11,088,238 registration records from the three phases of the exercise.

According to Amupitan, the commission’s Automated Biometric Identification System flagged 1,545,052 records for closer examination. He clarified that a flag from the automated system did not by itself make a registration invalid, as each case went through further examination and authorised adjudication.

Separately, 876 entries were traced to persons verified as deceased, and another 873 records of deceased persons were identified afterwards, bringing the total in that category to 1,749.

INEC Fake Ai-generated images

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The clean-up came after complaints, claims and objections from Nigerians once the preliminary register was displayed nationwide between October 9 and 15, 2026.

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Nigerians and civil society organisations reportedly flagged irregularities, among them suspected artificial intelligence-generated photographs, duplicate registrations, unusual names and entries belonging to deceased persons.

Some of the disputed photographs were shared on social media, heightening worries about how the registration exercise was conducted and how INEC verified entries. The commission then reviewed the register to investigate the complaints and remove invalid entries.

Amupitan further disclosed that 54 registration officials across 10 states had been identified for possible disciplinary action, including prosecution, over their alleged involvement in the irregularities uncovered during the exercise.

INEC said the cleaned-up register of voters would be published on December 16, 2026, in accordance with the Electoral Act.