The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has revealed that more than 3.5 million Nigerians completed online pre-registration for voter cards within the first three weeks of its ongoing nationwide registration exercise.
This was contained in a statement issued on Monday by INEC’s National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee, Sam Olumeku.
According to the Commission, as of Sunday, September 7, 2025, a total of 3,544,850 citizens had successfully pre-registered online since the exercise commenced on August 18, 2025.
Out of this figure, 1,709,933 (48.24%) are male, while 1,834,917 (51.76%) are female. The data further shows that 2,291,809 (64.65%) fall between the ages of 18 and 34, with 882,441 (24.89%) identified as students.
INEC added that going forward, it would present both online and physical registration statistics in a single graphic.
As of Thursday, September 4, 2025, the cumulative total of completed registrations since the commencement of physical enrolment on August 25, 2025, stood at 288,614. Of this, 132,634 (45.96%) are male, while 155,980 (54.04%) are female. Youths aged 18 to 34 accounted for 215,414 (74.64%), while students made up 114,150 (39.55%).
A comprehensive breakdown of registrations by state, gender, age, occupation, and disability is available on INEC’s website and official platforms.
INEC acknowledged the efforts of citizens and organisations encouraging participation, while emphasising that only Nigerians aged 18 years and above are eligible to register.
“It is illegal for anyone to encourage underage registration or those below 18 years of age to register in anticipation that they will attain the legal age of voting by the time the general election holds in 2027,” the agency disclosed in the statement.
INEC further clarified on August 20 that eligible voters who pre-register during the continuous voter registration exercise can only collect their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) from INEC offices.
The Commission explained that online registration alone does not complete the process, as biometric capture must be done physically at designated centres.
“For now, you can’t sort everything at home because we still need to capture your biometrics. If we are able to capture your biometrics online, then there will be no need to go to those centres.
You will just do everything at home and you will be done. But we still need to capture your fingerprint biometric, so that is the essence for you to come to the centre for your fingerprint biometric to be captured,” INEC Director of ICT, Bayode Lawrence, said during an interview on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief.