Nigeria’s 2023 Elections: Number of Accredited Voters Set as Elections Near

As Nigeria’s much anticipated 2023 election draws nearer, the need for free and fair elections in the country's can not be overstated. Thus, the onus now lies on Nigeria’s electoral body, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), to ensure a smooth and successful electoral process; one free of violence, malpractices, and corruption as enshrined in Section 15, Part 1 of the Third Schedule of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and Section 2 of the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended).  

Earlier this year, INEC completed the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) process, which allowed voters update or amend their registration details, as well as the registration of new voters. Upon completion of this process, the Independent National Electoral Commission released the figures of the total number of registered voters as per Section 20 of the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended).  

The INEC Chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, disclosed that at the end of the recent CVR, 12,298,944 Nigerians had successfully completed the registration exercise as new voters. Additionally, after rigorous clean-up of the data using the Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS), a total of 2,780,756 (22.6%) were identified as ineligible registrants and invalidated from the record.  

Among those whose registrations which were invalidated were double/multiple registrants, underaged persons and out rightly fake registrations that failed to meet INEC’s business rules. “Consequently, the number of valid registrations, post-ABIS, stands at 9,518,188”, stated Mr. Yakubu. 

In terms of demographic distribution, 7.2 million new voters or 76.5% are young people between 18-34 years while there is a slightly higher number of female (4.8 million or 50.82%) than male (4.6 million or 49.18%) voters. In terms of occupation, 3.8 million (40.8%) are students. In total, the number of accredited voters in Nigeria now stands at 93,522,272. 

Who is a voter? 

A voter is a person who has a right to participate in an election by an elector. In Nigeria, a voter is a citizen who is 18 years old and above and is duly registered whose names and details are in the register of voter. In effect, anyone who can exercise the right to vote is a voter. 

To be registered as a voter, an individual must be: 

• A citizen of Nigeria; 
• Have attained the age of eighteen (18) years; 
• Be resident, work in, originate from the Local Government Area (LGA), Council, ward covered by the registration officers of the Commission for registration as a voter; 
• Free from any incapacity to vote under any law in Nigeria; 
• Present him/herself to the registration officer of the Commission for registration as a voter, and; 
• Must not be subject to any incapacity to vote under any law in Nigeria.