As the 2023 general elections draw nearer, the race to populate the electoral register through the Continuous Voters Registration (CVR) exercise continues to gather momentum. According to the latest update released by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on the CVR exercise, 10.48 million new registrations had been recorded while 8.63 registrations have been completed as of June 27, 2022.
This means that about 9 million new eligible voters have been added to the country’s voters list which stood at 84 million in 2019.
Interestingly, unlike in the past when Nigerian youths had been lacklustre in registering to vote, increasing awareness going on among the young folks is driving a new wave of reawakening to their civic responsibility of registering to vote. From the latest data, the youths accounted for 70% of the completed registration in the ongoing CVR, as 6 million out of the 8.6 million new registration were done by the youths.
Given the renewed interest of Nigerians, most especially the youth, INEC which had earlier fixed June 30 as the deadline for the CVR exercise, last week announced an extension of the exercise without a specific date for a new deadline.
While the registration is still ongoing, some states are bolstering their voting power with the new registrations being added to the 2019 voters’ register.
So far, here are the top 10 states with the highest number of voters based on the 2019 voters register and the new registrations under the CVR exercise as of June 27, 2022.
Lagos (6,942,051 registered voters)
For the 2019 elections, Lagos had the largest number of registered voters of any state in the country at 6.57 million, according to INEC’s figure. The state maintained its leadership even with the ongoing CVR exercise as it has garnered 371,760 new registrations so far. This brought its total voters’ list to 6.94 million, which is still the highest in the country.
Kano (5,838,329 registered voters)
Expectedly, Kano State, which trailed Lagos in 2019 remained in the second position as of June 27, 2022. A total of 380,582 new voters registrations have been recorded in the state so far in the ongoing continuous registration exercise. With this, Kano, which had 5.45 million voters in 2019 now has a total of 5.83 million.
Kaduna (4,239,441 registered voters)
Despite the ongoing CVR that gives every state the opportunity to up their game in terms of the number of voters, the states that emerged top in 2019 have maintained their positions—at least for the top 3—even with new registrations added. It is, therefore, not surprising that Kaduna State is still number 3 in terms of registered voters as of June 27, 2022. According to INEC’s data, the State has recorded 306,949 new registrations in the ongoing exercise. This brought its total registered voters to 4.2 million, and has had 3.93 million going into the 2019 elections.
Rivers (3,587,679 registered voters)
In 2019, Rivers State had 3.21 million registered voters to emerge as the state with the largest number of voters in the South-South region of the country. The State has added 372,406 registered voters in the CVR and that brought its total register to 3.58 million as of June 27, 2022.
Katsina (3,444,064 registered voters)
The North-Western Katsina State had 3.2 million registered voters for the 2019 elections to emerge as one of the states with the largest number of voters in Nigeria. Apparently demonstrating the political consciousness of the people of the State, a total of 213,834 people have also registered for voters’ cards in the ongoing CVR as of June 27. This brought the State’s total registered voters to 3.44 million.
Delta (3,242,174 registered voters)
So far in the ongoing CVR, Delta State has recorded the largest number of new voters registered. According to INEC’s data, as of June 27, 2022, a total of 396,900 registrations have been completed by Deltans. With this, the state which had 2.84 million registered voters in 2019, now has 3.24 million registered voters.
Oyo (3,216,061 registered voters)
The South-Western State of Oyo was ahead of Delta in 2019 in terms of registered voters as it had 2.93 million electorates. However, the latter was able to overtake the former through the continuous registration. Notwithstanding, Oyo still emerged as one of the top ten states with the largest number of registered voters as of June 27, 2022. The state has added 281,954 registered voters through the ongoing CVR, which brought its total figure to 3.21 million.
Benue (2,717,673 registered voters)
From 2.4 million registered voters in 2019, Benue State has been able to shore up its voters’ list through the ongoing CVR. As of Week 11 of the exercise, the state had recorded 237,542 completed new voters registration. The State now has 2.7 million registered voters and is one of the leading states to have such a number as of now.
Bauchi (2,711,985 registered voters)
Close to Benue in terms of registered voters, Bauchi racked up 249,142 new registrations to make it one of the ten leading states. These new registrations added to its 2.46 million registered voters in 2019 bringing the state’s electorate number to 2.7 million.
Anambra (2,651,152 registered voters)
The South-Eastern State of Anambra made the cut to the top ten through the CVR. A total of 203,156 new registrations have been so far recorded in the State. For the 2019 elections, Anambra had 2.44 million registered voters, thus the new registrations brought its total number to 2.65 million.
Note: Since INEC has extended the continuous voters registration exercise indefinitely, for now, the number of registered voters for each of the states is bound to increase as more people get registered before the 2023 elections.
With the insecurity and unrest in Northern Nigeria, how come did they still hundred of thousands of new registered voters??
Nice one
This voting exercise has exposed Igbos as a minority tribe in Nigeria and that is very gladdening. Their noise is just propaganda. In 2023 their eyes would be cleared