INEC: over 1.3 Million Nigerians pre-register online in first week as physical registration begins

More than 1.3 million Nigerians signed up for voter cards online during the first week of the new registration exercise, the country’s electoral commission announced on Monday.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said 1,379,342 people completed online pre-registration between 18th and 25th August, when the exercise began.

Lagos State recorded the highest number with 222,205 registrations, followed by Osun State with 393,269 and Ogun State with 132,823. Kaduna, Oyo and Kebbi also saw strong participation with 61,592, 66,951 and 35,009 registrations, respectively.

However, Ebonyi recorded just 261 registrations, whilst Enugu and Imo had 484 and 481, respectively.

Women slightly outnumbered men among new registrants, making up 52.04% compared to 47.96% for men. Young Nigerians aged 18-34 dominated the process, accounting for 62.37% of all registrations, whilst those aged 35-49 made up 24.76%.

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Students formed the largest occupational group with 374,534 registrations (27.15%), followed by business professionals at 342,363 (24.82%) and traders at 161,137 (11.68%).

INEC also reported that 27,089 people with disabilities participated, representing 1.96% of total registrants.

In-person registration commenced on Monday across INEC’s 811 state and local government offices nationwide. This allows people who prefer face-to-face registration to enrol directly and enables online pre-registrants to complete their process.

The exercise is open to Nigerian citizens aged 18 and above who have not previously registered. Existing voters can transfer registrations between states or replace damaged cards.

“From experience, registration centres are often inundated by last-minute registrants amidst appeals for extension of time,” INEC warned, urging people not to delay despite the exercise running until 30th August 2026.