Women outnumber men as INEC records 3.87 million new voters

The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has announced that 3,867,997 Nigerians successfully completed the online and physical registration process in the eleventh week of Phase III of the Continuous Voter Registration exercise ahead of the 2027 general elections.

According to figures released by the commission on Wednesday, women accounted for the majority of new registrants, with 2,037,589 registrations, representing 52.68 per cent of the total. Male registrants stood at 1,830,408, representing 47.32 per cent.

INEC disclosed that 1,170,134 registrations were completed online, while 2,697,863 were carried out at physical registration centres across the country.

The commission also revealed that youths aged between 18 and 34 dominated the exercise, accounting for 2,602,960 registrants or 67.29 per cent of the total. Those aged 35 to 49 years recorded 843,757 registrations, while 386,095 registrants were between 50 and 69 years. Citizens aged 70 years and above accounted for 35,185 registrations.

On occupational distribution, students formed the largest category of registrants with 892,946 registrations, followed by businesspersons with 810,452. 

Other groups included farmers and fishers (649,358), housewives (640,569), artisans (204,660), traders (175,206), civil servants (97,328) and public servants (65,114).

INEC further reported that 41,092 persons with disabilities registered during the exercise. Of this figure, 20,601 were classified under the “Others” category, while 7,038 persons had albinism. 

The commission also recorded registrations from persons who are blind, deaf, autistic, physically challenged, of little stature, living with Down syndrome, spinal cord injuries and cognitive learning disabilities.

A state-by-state breakdown showed that Kano recorded the highest number of completed registrations with 330,906, followed by Lagos with 181,254, Delta with 166,895, Edo with 156,150, Ebonyi with 146,507 and Sokoto with 145,160.

 Ekiti recorded the lowest figure with 2,276 registrations, while Ondo recorded 23,824

INEC noted that no registration took place in Osun State due to the forthcoming governorship election. The commission said the suspension was in line with Section 9(6) of the Electoral Act 2022.

The electoral body added that the registration figures remain provisional and will be subjected to data clean up, claims and objections by citizens, as well as verification through the Automated Biometric Identification System before the final voter register is produced.