Lagos, Kano, Kaduna top Nigeria’s voter register ahead of 2027

Lagos, Kano and Kaduna have emerged as the three states with the highest number of registered voters in Nigeria ahead of the 2027 general elections, according to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

INEC Chairman, Joash Amupitan, disclosed this in Abuja on Tuesday, October 6, 2026, while giving an update on the country’s voter register ahead of the elections.

The latest figures come a day after Nairametrics reported that Nigeria’s voter register had surpassed 103 million following the completion of the three-phase Continuous Voter Registration exercise and biometric cleanup.

Lagos leads Nigeria’s voter register

Amupitan said Nigeria’s voter register now stands at 110 million, which he described as making the country the largest democracy in Africa by number of registered voters.

According to the breakdown provided by the INEC chairman, Lagos has the highest number of registered voters with 7,488,633, followed by Kano with 6,570,276 and Kaduna with 4,662,640.

• “The national register of voters now stands at 110 million, making Nigeria the largest democracy in Africa,” Amupitan said.
• Katsina ranks fourth with 3,876,051 registered voters, while Rivers follows with 3,736,434.
• Oyo has 3,588,111 registered voters, ahead of Delta with 3,525,988, while Benue has 3,057,225.
• Ogun ranks ninth with 3,037,981 voters, while Bauchi completes the top 10 with 3,012,547 registered voters.

The figures place Lagos, Kano and Kaduna comfortably ahead of other states in the size of their registered voting populations ahead of the 2027 elections.

CVR adds 10.7 million voters

INEC’s latest voter register followed the completion of three phases of the Continuous Voter Registration exercise, which produced a combined 10,772,421 new registrations.

The first phase began on August 25, 2025, and ended on December 10, recording 2,611,266 registrations.

• The second phase, conducted between January 5 and April 17, 2026, recorded 4,121,835 registrations.
• The third phase, which ran from May 11 to July 26, added 3,867,997 registrations.
• INEC has since closed the nationwide voter registration exercise, which ended on July 26.
• The commission recently warned Nigerians against a fraudulent portal claiming that another nationwide online registration exercise had commenced, reiterating that the 2026 registration process had already ended.

The three-phase exercise significantly expanded the voter register ahead of the 2027 general elections.

INEC revises 2027 election dates

INEC revised the timetable for the 2027 general elections following changes to Nigeria’s electoral law, bringing forward the dates initially announced earlier in the year.

Under the current timetable, the presidential and National Assembly elections are scheduled for January 16, 2027, while the governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections will hold on February 6, 2027.

• INEC’s official election calendar currently reflects both dates.
• The commission had initially scheduled the presidential and National Assembly elections for February 20.
• The governorship and state assembly polls were initially scheduled for March 6 before the timetable was revised.
• A total of 18 candidates are contesting the presidential election, comprising 16 men and two women, with male candidates accounting for 88.9% of the field.

The revised timetable means Nigeria’s 2027 general elections will begin with the presidential and National Assembly polls on January 16, followed by the governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections on February 6.