***Kano tops as commission registers 3.87 million new registrations at end of Phase III

***Lagos, Kano, Delta, Edo, Bauchi dominate state-by-state figures

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has recorded a cumulative 10,399,288 completed voter registrations across the three phases of the nationwide Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise ahead of the 2027 general election, with the just-concluded third phase contributing 3,867,997 new registration.

The latest statistics released by the electoral umpire on Wednesday showed that the figures, covering registrations completed both online and physically as of Sunday, July 26, 2026, comprise 1,170,134 online registrations and 2,697,863 physical registrations.

The third phase marks the final leg of INEC’s year-long Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise ahead of the 2027 general election.

If all the registrations were to translate into new additions, Nigeria’s register of voters could rise from 93,469,008 used for the 2023 general election to about 103.9 million ahead of the 2027 polls.

But the final figure might be lower after INEC completes its mandatory data clean-up to remove duplicate registrations, deceased voters and other invalid entries before publishing the certified register of voters.

The exercise began on August 18, 2025, with the first phase running until December 10, 2025, during which the commission registered 2,782,587 eligible voters, according to the INEC Chairman.

The second phase commenced on January 5, 2026, and ended on April 17, 2026, with the commission recording 3,748,704 completed registrations, comprising 2,259,288 online pre-registrations and 1,489,416 physical registrations.

The just-concluded third phase, which started on May 4, 2026, closed with 3,867,997 completed registrations made up of 1,170,134 online registrations and 2,697,863 physical registrations.

Cumulatively, the three phases of the nationwide Continuous Voter Registration exercise have recorded 10,399,288 completed registrations

But INEC noted that the figures remain preliminary, pending data clean-up through the Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS), where multiple registrations and other irregularities will be removed before the final register is published.

The commission also disclosed that voter registration in Osun State remained suspended because of the forthcoming governorship election in line with Section 9(6) of the Electoral Act, 2022Forgery, immunity, integrity: Testing constitutional legitimacy in Electoral Act, leaving the state with no registrations recorded during the exercise.

For the third phase, Kano led the country with 330,906 completed registrations, made up of 106,905 online and 224,001 physical registrations.

Lagos followed with 181,254, while Delta recorded 166,895 registrants.
Other states with over 150,000 registrations include Edo (156,150) and Sokoto (145,160).

Taraba recorded 141,649, Ogun 136,921, Bauchi 128,753, Jigawa 125,155, Oyo 125,144, Kogi 123,298 and Kaduna 121,872.

Benue (107,957), Nasarawa (107,854), Anambra (108,163), Imo (107,510), Bayelsa (102,840), Cross River (101,672), Katsina (96,764), Kebbi (96,214), Niger (95,807), Kwara (95,582) and Gombe (95,334) also recorded significant numbers.

At the lower end of the table, Plateau registered 41,993, Ondo 23,824, Ekiti 2,276, while Osun recorded zero because registration was suspended.

A breakdown of the figures by geopolitical zones shows that the North-West accounted for the highest number of registrations with 993,117, representing over a quarter of the national total.

The South-South followed with 680,715 registrations. The North-Central recorded 628,776 registrations. The North-East registered 595,218 voters:L. The South-East recorded 500,752 registrations. The South-West recorded the lowest regional figure of 469,419, largely due to the suspension of registration in Osun State:

Lagos led the online registration category with 119,761, followed by Kano (106,905), Ogun (75,072), Sokoto (71,136), Kaduna (62,935) and Delta (61,365).

Physical registration, however, remained the preferred option nationwide, accounting for nearly 70 per cent of all completed registrations, with Kano again topping the chart at 224,001 physical registrations.

INEC said the figures are subject to further verification and clean-up before the final register of voters is released.