The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) stated that the commission has a total number of 93, 469,008 voters for the 2023 general elections.
This figure is more than the 93,522,272 that was initially displayed. Consequently, 53, 264 names were deleted from the register.
The commission also debunked the rumour of any adjustment of the election timetable and postponement of elections.
It stated that the security agencies has continuously assured the commission of the security of it’s staff and materials and has reinforced the commitment to proceed with the elections as planned.
The Commission reassured that the Presidential and National Assembly elections will hold on Saturday 25th February 2023 while Governorship and State Assembly elections will hold two weeks later on Saturday 11th March 2023.
The chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, disclosed this at the presentation of the national register of voters to political parties on Wednesday.
He said that after the cleaning up of its data from the last Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise (June 2021 – July 2022), 9,518,188 new voters were added to the previous register resulting in the preliminary register of 93,522,272 which was presented to Nigerians for claims and objections as required by law.
However, at the end of the period for claims and objections by citizens, the Commission said it received 53,264 objections from Nigerians to the prevalence of ineligible persons on the register by virtue of age, citizenship, or death and that the names have been verified and removed from the register.
Consequently, the INEC chairman said the final list of registered voters stands at 93,469,008.
Of this cumulative figure, he said 49,054,162 (52.5 per cent) are male while 44,414,846 (47.5 per cent) are female.
According to him, the distribution by age group shows that 37,060,399 (39.65 per cent) are youth between the ages of 18 and 34; 33,413,591 (35.75 per cent) are middle aged persons between the ages of 35 and 49; 17,700,270 (18.94 per cent) are elderly voters between the ages of 50 and 69 while 5,294,748 (5.66 per cent) are senior citizens aged 70 and above.
He said, “In terms of occupational distribution, students constitute the largest category with 26,027,481 (27.8 per cent) of all voters, followed by 14,742,554 (15.8 per cent) Farmers/Fishermen and 13,006,939 (13.9 per cent) housewives.
Recall that the data on disability was not collected for previous registration, he, however, said the cumulative figure of 85,362 persons from the recent CVR indicates that there are 21,150 (24.5 per cent) persons with Albinism; 13,387 (15.7 per cent) with physical impediment and 8,103 (9.5 per cent) are blind.
He said the soft copy of the complete register will be presented to each political party.
“It is organised by State, Local Government, Ward and Polling Unit. It is also the same register that will be used on Election Day. Hard copies of the breakdown of the register by States of the Federation and analysis by gender, age group, occupation and disability are enclosed in your folders for this meeting.
“The soft copy of the breakdown and analysis will be uploaded to our website and social media platforms shortly.
“I would like to reiterate our commitment to transparent, credible, and inclusive 2023 General Election.
“We will continue to take every step to protect the sanctity of the votes cast by citizens and to deal with infractions, including the arrest and prosecution of persons that attempt to perpetuate illegality at Polling Units on Election Day, be they underaged voters or vote buyers.”
To make it easier, he said the Commission devolved the collection to the 8,809 Registration Areas/Wards nationwide.
“We have also uploaded the comprehensive list of the Ward collection centres nationwide to our website. The locations can also be identified by sending a short text message to any of the two dedicated telephone lines. The details are also available on the Commission’s website,” he said.
With just 44 days to the 2023 General Election, he reiterated that electioneering campaigns are in full swing following your nomination of candidates for the 1,491 constituencies for which elections will be conducted this year.
“As you are no doubt aware, the Presidential election as well as elections for 109 Senatorial Districts and 360 Federal Constituencies will be held on Saturday 25th February 2023.
“Two weeks later, governorship elections in 28 States of the Federation and all 993 State Assembly constituencies will be held on Saturday 11th March 2023,” he said.
He thanked the chairmen and leaders of political parties for their sustained engagement with the Commission in particular and Nigerians in general on critical electoral issues.
“I want to reassure you that working together, we will sustain the tradition of regular consultative meetings with political parties and other critical stakeholders,” he said.
