The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has recorded 6,885,330 new prospective voters during the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise, bringing Nigeria closer to a voter register of 100 million as preparations gather pace for the 2027 general elections.
The commission had initially planned to end the registration exercise on July 10, 2026, but extended it by two weeks. The registration is now scheduled to close on Sunday, July 26, 2026, with the current phase serving as the final stage of the exercise.
Earlier in the year, INEC temporarily suspended the second phase of registration on April 17, 2026, to allow for the cleanup of the voter register after publishing it for public claims and objections.
The commission is expected to display the provisional register in August, giving Nigerians another opportunity to verify their information and challenge any inaccuracies before the final register is released.
First Daily gathered that the figures released so far remain provisional because biometric verification and the removal of duplicate registrations are still ongoing.
INEC would use biometric screening to eliminate multiple registrations before publishing the register for public scrutiny.
The final number of eligible new voters will only be confirmed after all objections and verification processes have been concluded.
According to the commission’s data, 3,631,488 Nigerians completed online pre-registration, while 3,253,842 registered physically at designated centres.
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A breakdown of registrations across the three phases shows:
Phase I (August–December 2025): 2,685,725
Phase II (up to Week Six): 1,228,648
Phase III (Week 10): 2,970,957
Among the states, Kano recorded the highest number of new registrants with 465,964, followed by Lagos (350,337), Sokoto (338,730), Imo (251,309), Osun (238,240) and Borno (201,724). Other states also posted significant registration figures.
Regional statistics showed the North-West leading with 1,560,531 new registrations, ahead of the South-East (830,774), North-Central (784,632), South-South (772,503), South-West (758,170) and North-East (753,431).
Women accounted for the majority of new registrants, representing 52.57 per cent or 1,561,765 people, while men made up 47.43 per cent, with 1,409,192 registrations.
Young Nigerians between the ages of 18 and 34 formed the largest group of new voters, with 2,003,183 registrations.
Students emerged as the largest occupational category among registrants, followed by business owners, housewives, farmers, artisans, traders, and civil and public servants.
INEC also reported that 32,361 persons living with disabilities registered during the latest phase of the exercise.
Nigeria’s voter register has continued to expand over successive election cycles. It increased from 84,004,084 registered voters before the 2019 general elections to 93,469,008 ahead of the 2023 polls—an addition of roughly 9.5 million voters.
With more than 6.8 million fresh registrations already recorded in the current exercise, the country’s voter register is expected to move closer to the 100 million mark once the verification and validation process is completed.