***Lagos, Kano, Kaduna, Katsina lead states’ register

Ahead of the 2027 general elections, North-West and South-West geopolitical zones have emerged as the regions with the highest number of registered voters in the country, while the South-East recorded the lowest, as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) puts the 2026 national voter register at 103,428,715.

The figures show that the North-West accounts for 25,083,411 voters, representing about 24.25 per cent of the national register, while the South-West follows with 19,614,274, or 18.96 per cent.

The data was obtained by The Guardian on Tuesday.

From the figures, North-Central has 16,965,787 voters, representing 16.41 per cent, while the South-South accounts for 15,823,550, or 15.30 per cent.

The North-East has 13,965,475 registered voters, representing 13.51 per cent, while the South-East records the lowest zonal figure, with 11,976,218 voters, or 11.58 per cent.

Together, the North-West and South-West account for 44,697,685 voters, representing more than 43 per cent of the entire national register.

At the state level, Lagos has the highest number of registered voters, with 7,488,633, accounting for 7.24 per cent of the national register.

Kano follows with 6,570,276, representing 6.35 per cent, while Kaduna ranks third with 4,662,640, or 4.51 per cent.

Katsina occupies the fourth position with 3,876,051 voters, representing 3.75 per cent, followed by Rivers with 3,736,434, or 3.61 per cent.

Oyo has 3, 588 ,111 registered voters, representing 3.47 per cent, while Delta records 3,525,988, or 3.41 per cent.
Benue has 3,057,225 voters, representing 2.96 per cent, followed by Ogun with 3,037,981, or 2.94 per cent.

Bauchi, with 3,012,547, representing 2.91 per cent, completes the top 10.

The next group comprises Niger, with 2,983,476 voters; Anambra, 2,917,728; Plateau, 2,906,570; Edo, 2,865,263; Jigawa, 2,807,811; Borno, 2,765,165; Imo, 2,706,052; Sokoto, 2,633,113; Akwa Ibom, 2,566,196; and Adamawa, 2,431,146.

Osun has 2,327,784 registered voters, while Kebbi has 2,309,503 and Abia has 2,306,520. They are followed by Taraba, with 2,254,380; Kogi, 2,232,398; Zamfara, 2,224,017; and Enugu, 2,217,862.

Nasarawa records 2,137,699 voters, while Ondo has 2,116,057. Cross River has 1,928,978, followed by Kwara, with 1,916,376, and Ebonyi, with 1,828,056.

At the lower end of the register are Gombe, with 1,768,566 voters; Yobe, 1,733,671; and the FCT, 1,732,043. Bayelsa has 1,200,691, while Ekiti records the lowest figure among the 36 states, with 1,055,708 registered voters.

The distribution also shows a relatively narrow gender gap in the national register. Male voters number 53,528,218, while female voters total 49,900,497.

The male population therefore accounts for approximately 51.75 per cent, compared with about 48.25 per cent for females.

The age distribution shows that voters aged 35 to 49 years constitute the largest age group, with 43,265,946 registered voters, representing 41.83 per cent of the register.

They are followed by voters aged 18 to 34, numbering 29,777,578, or 28.79 per cent. Those aged 50 to 69 account for 22,982,900, representing 22.22 per cent, while voters aged 70 and above number 7,402,291, or 7.16 per cent.

The figures therefore show that voters aged 18 to 49 years account for more than 73 per cent of the national register, making younger and middle-aged voters the dominant age groups.

The register also contains 232,658 persons with disabilities (PWDs). Of this number, those classified under “Others” constitute the largest category, with 101,183, representing 43.49 per cent of registered PWDs.

They are followed by persons with albinism, numbering 44,023, or 18.92 per cent, while those with physical impediments account for 27,141, representing 11.67 per cent.

The register has 19,939 persons with blindness, or 8.57 per cent, and 14,326 persons with deafness, representing 6.16 per cent. Those classified with adism number 8,832, or 3.80 per cent, while 7,723 persons have cognitive or learning disabilities, representing 3.32 per cent.

The remaining categories are little stature, with 5,755 persons or 2.47 per cent; Down Syndrome, with 2,080 or 0.89 per cent; and spinal cord injury, with 1,656 or 0.71 per cent.

The new register represents an increase of nearly 10 million registered voters compared with the register used for the 2023 general elections, which stood at about 93.47 million.

The distribution of the 103.4 million voters shows that the electoral map remains heavily concentrated in a number of populous states, with Lagos, Kano, Kaduna and Katsina alone accounting for more than 22.5 million registered voters.

At the zonal level, the North-West’s 25.08 million voters make it the largest voting bloc, while the South-East’s 11.98 million places it at the bottom of the six-zone distribution.