Women, youths drive voter registration as INEC records 1.56m new registrants

By Lateef Ibrahim

Women and young Nigerians have emerged as the driving force behind the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise, with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) announcing that more than 1.56 million eligible voters have registered in just seven weeks.
Figures released by the electoral commission on Tuesday showed that 1,565,873 Nigerians successfully registered during Phase III of the exercise as of June 26.
According to INEC, 620,933 prospective voters completed their registration through the online pre-registration platform, while 944,940 registered physically at designated centres across the country.
The commission, however, noted that the figures remain provisional and will be subjected to data clean-up, public claims and objections, as well as verification using the Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS) before the final register is published.
Women accounted for the majority of the new registrants, with 821,276 registrations, representing 52.45 per cent of the total, while men made up 744,597 or 47.55 per cent.
Youth participation also dominated the exercise, as Nigerians between the ages of 18 and 34 accounted for 1,082,985 registrations. Students constituted the largest occupational group, with 384,093 registrants, while 18,919 Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) also registered.
A breakdown of registrations by state showed Kano leading the chart with 118,207 registrants, followed by Lagos with 78,360 and Delta with 76,395.
INEC further disclosed that the exercise was temporarily suspended in Ekiti and Osun states in compliance with the Electoral Act ahead of the forthcoming governorship elections in the two states.
The commission encouraged all eligible Nigerians who are yet to register to take advantage of the online pre-registration portal and physical registration centres across the country before the exercise closes.