The Independent National Electoral Commission says Nigeria’s national voter register has risen to more than 103 million ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The INEC Chairman, Prof Joash Amupitan, disclosed this on Monday in Abuja while delivering a keynote address at a strategic workshop for editors organised by the Nigerian Guild of Editors in collaboration with the commission.
Amupitan said the figure followed the completion of the three-phase Continuous Voter Registration exercise and the final clean-up of the register through the Automated Biometric Identification System.
He said 2,611,266 voters were registered during the first phase of the exercise, conducted between August 25 and December 10, 2025.
According to him, the second phase, held from January 5 to April, recorded 4,121,835 new registrations, while the third phase, conducted between May 11 and July 26, produced 3,867,997 registrations.
“The total new registration stands at 10,772,421, subject to the Automated Biometric Identification System verification currently being concluded,” the INEC chairman said.
Amupitan said the commission introduced an online registration portal during the third phase to reduce the challenges associated with distance and time.
He also said INEC introduced printable Permanent Voter Cards in line with Section 18(1) of the Electoral Act 2026, aimed at ending prolonged waiting periods for physical cards.
“Following the conclusion of our three-phase Continuous Voter Registration exercise, which captured over 10.6 million new applicants, and the completion of the public display of the Preliminary Register for claims and objections, our Voter Register Department has completed the final Automated Biometric Identification System cleanup.
“Nigeria’s National Register of Voters is now more than 103 million,” he said.
The INEC chairman assured Nigerians that the commission would take steps to ensure that eligible voters were not disenfranchised during the 2027 elections.
He cited the theft of some PVCs in Osun as an example of a situation where the commission deployed technology to ensure affected voters could still participate in the electoral process.
“I want to place on record that during the Osun election, when PVCs of some wards in some local government were stolen, people thought they would be completely disenfranchised.
“Instantly, we used this technology to print, not to disable, those PVCs that were stolen,” Amupitan said.
He added that the commission also deployed downloadable PVCs which voters used to cast their ballots.
Amupitan said nationwide collection of PVCs would begin on October 9, urging registered voters to collect their cards ahead of the 2027 elections.
He said INEC had completed the processing and distribution of Phase One PVCs to all local government centres.
The chairman also appealed to editors and media executives to use their platforms to inform voters about collection centres and encourage them to collect their cards promptly.
The development comes as INEC continues preparations for the 2027 general elections, with voter registration, verification and PVC collection forming key components of the electoral process.
Discover more from TheTimes Nigeria
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
