Youths in the lead as over 2m Nigerians complete voter registration in one month

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says over eight million new applicants have completed their voter registration.

In June 2021, the commission launched a portal where Nigerians can register or request to update their voter information before they complete the process physically at designated centres.

According to data released by the commission on Monday, the number of persons who had completed their registration was 8,631,696 as at 7am on June 27.

This represents an increase of 2,087,451 from the 6,544,245 recorded on May 30.

Delta state is in the lead for the number of completed registrations with 396,900, followed by Kano with 380,582, and Bayelsa with 379,438.

According to INEC, youths aged between 18 and 35 constitute the highest number of completed registrations with a total of 6,081,456.

Comparing this number to the 4,550,847 completed youths registration as of May 30, there has been an increase of 1,530,609.

This increase constitutes 73.3% of the total increase in completed registrations from May 30 to June 27.

There has recently been a surge in youth turnout for the continuous voter registration (CVR) exercise.

INEC had earlier fixed June 30 as the deadline for the ongoing CVR ahead of the 2023 elections.

But a federal high court in Abuja stopped INEC from ending the exercise, following a suit filed against the electoral umpire by Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) and 185 persons.

The suit was adjourned till June 29, 2022, for the hearing of the motion on notice for interlocutory injunction.

Also speaking on Saturday during the the ‘Youth Vote Count’ concert in Abuja, Mahmood Yakubu, INEC chairman, said the commission will not stop the exercise until it is satisfied that Nigerians who want to register have done so.

“The second thing is you want to know when will this registration end. Is it going to end on the 30th of June — in the next five days? On behalf of INEC, let me assure you, e no go end for 30th June. As long as we have you people trying to register to obtain your PVC, we will continue to register you and we will continue to make sure that you get your PVC,” Yakubu had said.