Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has announced that more than 1.37 million citizens completed online voter pre-registration in the first week of the nationwide exercise, signalling strong early participation ahead of forthcoming elections.
INDEPENDENT NATIONAL ELECTORAL COMMISSION
PRESS RELEASE
1,379,342 NIGERIANS PRE-REGISTER IN ONE WEEK AS IN-PERSON REGISTRATION COMMENCES TODAY
The nationwide online pre-registration of voters commenced on Monday 18th August 2025. As at yesterday, Sunday 24th August 2025, a… pic.twitter.com/TmNYGpv7he
— INEC Nigeria (@inecnigeria) August 25, 2025
According to INEC’s data, women accounted for 717,856 registrants (52.04%) compared to 661,846 men (47.96%). Young Nigerians between the ages of 18 and 34 formed the majority, with 860,286 registrants, representing 62.37% of the total.
The Commission further reported that 374,534 registrants (27.15%) were students, while 27,089 (1.96%) were persons with disabilities. A full demographic breakdown has been published on INEC’s official website and platforms.
In a statement, National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee, Sam Olumekun, confirmed that physical registration had also commenced across INEC’s 811 state and local government offices. He explained that this would allow citizens to either register in person or complete online applications at designated centres.
“The Commission appeals to the public that the ongoing voter registration is only open to Nigerian citizens who are at least 18 years old and who are not registered voters. Double or multiple registration is a violation of the law. However, inter-State/FCT and intra-State/FCT transfers of voters, as well as the replacement of lost or damaged voters’ cards, are allowed during the CVR,” Olumekun stated.
He added that the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise would last for one year, ending on 30 August 2026. However, he urged eligible citizens not to delay until the final days, when centres often experience overcrowding and last-minute appeals for deadline extensions.
