120,600 Nigerians complete voter registration, says INEC

A total of 120,600 Nigerians have completed their physical registration in the ongoing nationwide continuous voter registration in nine days, Independent National Electoral Commission has said.

In the physical registration which began on July 26, Nigerians who initiated their registration online and those who prefer to register in-person had the opportunity to complete it in the commission’s state and LGA offices nationwide.

According to a statement by Festus Okoye, INEC national commissioner and chairman, information and voter education committee, the number of fresh online pre-registrants is now 1,377,733.

He said young Nigerians between the age of 18 and 34 are still leading in both online registration by 65% and completed registration by 70%.

“As of 4pm on Tuesday 3rd August 2021, the number of fresh online pre-registrants is now 1,377,733 while 120,600 citizens have completed their physical registration since the exercise commenced on Monday 26th July 2021,” the statement said.

“Young Nigerians between the ages of 18 and 34 are still leading in both online registration (1,074,260 or 65%) and completed registration (84,619 or 70%). In terms of occupation, students are leading in both pre-registration (529,219 or 32%) and completed registration (48,897 or 41%).

“For gender distribution, 940,062 (or 57%) are male and 717,504 (or 43%) are female for online pre-registration while the figures for completed registration are 72,075 (or 60%) male and 48,525 (or 40%) female.”

The distribution of the complete registration by states indicated that Anambra had the highest number with 8,624 and followed by Osun with 8,114.

More people registering in Anambra could be due to the forthcoming governorship election scheduled for November 6 in the state.

INEC appealed to all Nigerians to use the opportunity to either initiate their registration online and schedule an appointment at their convenience to complete the process or visit any of the commission’s state/LGA office nationwide to register.

“For emphasis, we wish to remind citizens that the ongoing registration does not include those who are already registered as voters. The current exercise is only open to Nigerians who are 18 years and above who have not registered before.  It is an offence under the Electoral Act for any citizen to register more than once,” it said.