2027 Elections: Lagos Retains Lead as INEC Register Rises to 103.4 Million Voters

Lagos State has retained its position as Nigeria’s state with the highest number of registered voters ahead of the 2027 general elections, with 7,488,633 voters on the latest register released by the Independent National Electoral Commission.

The figure forms part of a national register containing 103,428,715 registered voters following the completion of the three-phase Continuous Voter Registration exercise and the final biometric clean-up. INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, disclosed the figures during a world press conference and national stakeholders’ meeting in Abuja on Tuesday.

Lagos maintains its position

Lagos leads the state-by-state register with 7,488,633 voters, followed by Kano State with 6,570,276 and Kaduna State with 4,662,640.

Katsina occupies fourth position with 3,876,051 registered voters, while Rivers has 3,736,434. Oyo follows with 3,588,111, Delta with 3,525,988, Benue with 3,057,225, Ogun with 3,037,981 and Bauchi with 3,012,547.

At the other end of the register, Ekiti has the lowest number of registered voters at 1,055,708, followed by Bayelsa with 1,200,691.

The Federal Capital Territory has 1,732,043 registered voters, while Ondo has 1,733,641 and Gombe 1,768,560.

North-West has largest regional voter base

While Lagos leads individual states, the North-West geopolitical zone has the largest combined voter population.

The zone has 25,083,411 registered voters, compared with 19,614,274 in the South-West, giving the North-West a lead of 5,469,137 registered voters over the South-West.

The North-Central has 16,965,787 voters, followed by the South-South with 15,823,550, the North-East with 13,965,475 and the South-East with 11,976,218.

The figures underline the geographical concentration of Nigeria’s registered electorate and provide an important statistical picture of the electorate that political parties and candidates will be seeking to engage ahead of the 2027 polls.

More than 10.7 million new registrations

The latest register reflects the outcome of INEC’s three-phase Continuous Voter Registration exercise.

According to the commission, the exercise produced 10,772,421 new registrations before verification through its Automated Biometric Identification System.

INEC subsequently completed its biometric clean-up before arriving at the current national figure of 103,428,715 registered voters.

The development means Nigeria’s registered electorate has crossed the 100 million mark ahead of the 2027 elections.

However, the size of the register should not automatically be interpreted as the number of people who will ultimately vote. Registration establishes eligibility, while actual turnout depends on factors including voters collecting their Permanent Voter Cards, accessibility of polling units, security, mobilisation and individual decisions to participate.

Young Nigerians remain a major electoral bloc

The demographic breakdown released by INEC also provides insight into the composition of the electorate.

Voters between 35 and 49 years constitute the largest age group, numbering 43,265,946 or 41.83 per cent of the register.

They are followed by voters aged 18 to 34, who number 29,777,576, representing 28.79 per cent.

Voters aged 50 to 69 account for 22,982,900, or 22.22 per cent, while those aged 70 and above number 7,402,291, representing 7.16 per cent.

Taken together, the figures show that voters below 50 years constitute a substantial majority of the registered electorate. This makes issues affecting employment, education, cost of living, entrepreneurship, security and economic opportunity particularly relevant to political campaigns, although voter priorities cannot be determined from age statistics alone.

Male voters slightly outnumber females

The register also shows a relatively narrow difference between male and female registered voters.

INEC recorded 53,528,218 male voters, representing 51.75 per cent, while female voters numbered 49,900,497, representing 48.25 per cent.

The difference is therefore approximately 3.63 million voters.

The figures provide a national picture, but they do not by themselves indicate how either gender will vote in 2027.

Persons with disabilities included

INEC recorded 232,658 registered voters across 10 categories of disabilities, representing approximately 0.23 per cent of the national register.

The commission’s breakdown includes persons with albinism, physical impairment, visual impairment, hearing impairment, autism, cognitive or learning disabilities, limb impairment, Down syndrome and spinal cord injury, among other classifications.

The inclusion of these voters also places renewed attention on accessibility at polling units and the practical measures required to ensure that eligible citizens with disabilities can participate in the electoral process.

Voter register opens for public scrutiny

One of the immediate next steps is public scrutiny of the register.

INEC said the voter register will be displayed nationwide from October 9 to October 15, 2026, in accordance with Section 19(1) of the Electoral Act 2026.

The exercise gives citizens an opportunity to inspect the register and raise claims or objections where necessary before the elections.

This stage is particularly important because an accurate register is one of the foundations of credible elections. Citizens have an opportunity to check relevant information and bring possible irregularities to the attention of the electoral commission.

PVC collection to begin

INEC has also announced that nationwide collection of newly issued Permanent Voter Cards will commence on October 9.

The commission said it had completed processing and distribution of Phase 1 PVCs to local government centres ahead of the collection exercise.

For registered voters, registration alone is therefore not the final step. Eligible citizens will need to collect their PVCs and acquaint themselves with the arrangements for voting in their respective areas.

Technology becomes central to INEC’s preparations

The growing size of the register is only one aspect of INEC’s preparations for 2027.

The commission says it has acquired 57,000 new Bimodal Voter Accreditation System devices, which have undergone software hardening, battery optimisation and biometric calibration.

INEC also plans a nationwide mock accreditation exercise in November as part of its preparations for the elections.

The commission has additionally established an Artificial Intelligence Division within its ICT Department to assist with detecting anomalies and combating disinformation.

According to Amupitan, AI auditing tools have been incorporated into the results verification process under a governance framework that includes mandatory human oversight.

Deepfakes and misinformation pose new challenges

INEC’s emphasis on artificial intelligence reflects an emerging challenge in electoral communication.

The commission has expressed concern about the use of generative AI, voice cloning and deepfake videos to manufacture false statements, documents and election-related content.

For voters and journalists, this means that the 2027 election information environment may require greater verification than previous electoral cycles.

INEC has urged journalists to use digital forensic tools and verify election-related information before publication. It has also warned against publishing privately collated results or premature declarations, stressing that the authority to declare election results rests with the commission.

Security remains a major concern

Security preparations are also being intensified ahead of the polls.

The Nigeria Police Force says it is coordinating with other security agencies to address threats in areas considered vulnerable and to protect voters, election materials and collation centres.

The police said clearance operations were ongoing in parts of Kogi, Niger, Benue and Taraba, while broader security planning would cover the movement of election materials, polling units, collation centres and the final declaration process.

The significance of these preparations goes beyond the number of security personnel deployed. Voters must be able to reach polling units and participate without intimidation, while electoral officials and materials must be protected throughout the process.

1.4 million ad hoc personnel expected

INEC is also preparing a large temporary workforce for the elections.

The commission says it will require 1,414,768 ad hoc personnel for the two election phases.

Of that figure, 707,384 personnel will be deployed for the Presidential and National Assembly elections on January 16, 2027, with the same number expected for the Governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections on February 6.

They will be deployed across 176,846 polling units nationwide.

This scale demonstrates the logistical complexity of organising a nationwide election in Nigeria, where technology, personnel, security, transportation and communication must operate simultaneously across thousands of locations.

What the numbers mean for 2027

The latest voter register provides a statistical snapshot of Nigeria’s electorate ahead of the 2027 general elections.

Lagos remains the state with the largest registered voter population, while the North-West has the largest geopolitical-zone total. More than 103 million people are now on the national register, with voters aged 35 to 49 forming the largest single age category.

But the figures should not be confused with guaranteed votes for any political party or candidate.

A large voter population does not automatically translate into higher turnout, while having fewer registered voters does not determine how a state or region will vote. The eventual outcome will depend on participation, political mobilisation, candidates, campaigns, issues, election-day conditions and the choices made by individual voters.

For INEC, the immediate task is to translate the numbers on the register into an orderly, accessible and credible electoral process.

With the presidential and National Assembly elections scheduled for January 16, 2027, and the Governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections for February 6, the commission has entered a critical stage of its preparations.

The coming weeks will therefore be significant, particularly as Nigerians inspect the voter register, collect newly issued PVCs and scrutinise the commission’s technological, logistical and security preparations.

The size of the register may dominate the headlines, but the credibility of the 2027 elections will ultimately depend on what happens after registration: whether eligible voters can participate freely, whether electoral technology works as intended, whether misinformation is effectively challenged, and whether the final results accurately reflect the ballots cast by Nigerians.