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INEC announces removal of 1.27m invalid voter records
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From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
Ahead of next year’s general elections, the United Nations has demanded violence-free polls, warning the Nigerian electorate against allowing the elections to become sources of violence and instability.
The UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General for West Africa and the Sahel, Leonardo Santos Simão, made the appeal during a courtesy visit to the management of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Abuja on Wednesday. He also urged Nigerians to see the election as a democratic process to promote peace, national cohesion and development.
Simão emphasised that the UN recognised the enormous responsibility facing INEC, particularly amid the security challenges confronting Nigeria and other countries in the West African sub-region.
Announcing that the UN would maintain a presence during the electoral process to encourage positive conduct and support an atmosphere conducive to peaceful participation, he said: “We are here, pleased to give you moral support, that you are not alone in facing this mammoth task.”
Simão clarified that the UN would not participate as an election observer because it had no mandate to undertake election observation.
He stressed, however, that the outcome of Nigeria’s 2027 elections would have implications beyond its borders, particularly for democratic stability, regional integration and peace in West Africa.
According to him, peaceful elections in Nigeria could encourage other countries in the region, while instability could have wider consequences.
Earlier, INEC Chairman Joash Amupitan had disclosed that its technology-enabled verification exercise had identified about 1.5 million questionable voter registration records, with more than 1.27 million confirmed invalid and removed from the National Register of Voters.
He said elections should provide citizens with an opportunity to exercise their democratic rights peacefully and determine their political future, rather than trigger violence, division and instability.
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Amupitan insisted that the Commission’s efforts to sanitise the National Register of Voters and address identified irregularities that could undermine the credibility of the electoral process had led to the identification of about 1.5 million questionable registration records.
He further explained that more than 1.27 million records had been confirmed invalid and removed from the database as part of preparations for the 2027 general elections.
Amupitan said the Commission was determined to strengthen the credibility of the voters’ register through technology, improved administrative processes and public participation in the verification exercise.
According to him, Nigeria’s National Register of Voters currently stood at over 103 million, with young Nigerians aged between 18 and 34 accounting for nearly 29 per cent of the electorate. He added that the Commission was undertaking a comprehensive cleaning of the register through the claims and objections process, ahead of the publication of the final register, scheduled for 15 December 2026.
He further noted that INEC would continue to deploy technology to improve electoral administration while strengthening public confidence in the process.
Similarly, when he hosted the British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Pete Vowles, at the Commission’s headquarters in Abuja, Amupitan reaffirmed its commitment to conducting free, fair, credible and inclusive elections, saying INEC was taking steps to strengthen its operational, technological and administrative capacity ahead of the polls.
He described the visits as important demonstrations of international confidence and support for Nigeria’s democratic institutions, and said the Commission was ready to deepen its partnerships with both the United Kingdom and the United Nations.
The electoral umpire’s chairman also highlighted improvements recorded in recent off-cycle governorship elections in Anambra, Ekiti and Osun states, the Federal Capital Territory Area Council elections and 16 legislative by-elections across the country.
Amupitan identified improvements in election logistics, deployment of personnel and materials, the use of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), timely uploading of polling unit results to the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal, intelligence-driven security collaboration and more efficient result management as areas of progress.
He also spoke on preparations for the 2027 elections, saying the Commission had completed nine of the 14 activities on its revised timetable, with operational readiness assessments ongoing across the six geopolitical zones.
