Our Reporter, Abuja
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says more than 2.6 million Nigerians have registered in the first two weeks of its Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise.
INEC National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Sam Olumekun, announced this in a statement on Tuesday after the Commission’s meeting in Abuja.
According to him, 2,532,062 Nigerians had completed online pre-registration as of August 31, with women slightly outnumbering men. A total of 1,313,580 (51.88%) registrants are female, while 1,218,482 (48.12%) are male.
Young Nigerians dominated the exercise, with 1,602,484 (63.29%) between the ages of 18 and 34. Students also made up a significant chunk, numbering 647,528 (25.57%).
Olumekun reminded applicants that online registration alone is not valid unless completed physically at one of INEC’s 811 registration centres nationwide where biometric details are captured.
“All online pre-registrants must appear in person at designated centres to finalise their registration. Without this, the process is incomplete,” he stressed.
INEC also disclosed that 72,274 Nigerians took part in the in-person registration within the first five days of the exercise, which began on August 25. Of these, 54,718 (75.71%) were youths aged 18–34, while students accounted for 30,953 (42.83%).
The Commission has published a detailed breakdown of the figures by state, gender, age, occupation and disability status on its official platforms.
Olumekun hailed the turnout and commended civil society groups and organisations that have mobilised citizens for the exercise.
Ikengaonline reports that registration continues nationwide from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm, Monday to Friday, at INEC’s state and local government offices.
