2027: Middle-aged voters dominate Nigeria’s 103m voter register – INEC

Voters between 35 and 49 years of age constitute the largest demographic group on Nigeria’s register for the 2027 general elections, accounting for more than 43 million registered voters, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said.

INEC Chairperson, Joash Amupitan, a professor and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), disclosed this during a press briefing on the commission’s preparations for the 2027 general elections, scheduled for January and February.

Mr Amupitan explained that the voter register grew to 103 million registered voters following the three phases of the Continuous Voter Registration exercise conducted between August 2025 and July 2026.

He said the first phase, conducted from 25 August to 10 December 2025, registered 2,611,266 voters.

The second phase, which ran from 5 January to 17 April 2026, registered 4,121,825 voters, while the third phase, conducted between 11 May and 26 July 2026, registered 3,867,997 voters.

In total, the three phases produced more than 10.7 million new registrations, subject to biometric verification by the commission, he said.

Voters demography

According to data presented by Mr Amupitan, voters in the 35–49 age bracket number 43,265,946, representing 41.83 per cent of the 103.43 million registered voters.

They are followed by voters aged 18 to 34 years, who number 29,777,576, representing 28.79 per cent of the register.

The commission said 22,982,900 voters, or 22.22 per cent, are aged between 50 and 69 years, while those aged 70 years and above constitute the smallest age group, with 7,402,291 voters, representing 7.16 per cent.

The age distribution shows that voters aged 35 years and above account for about 71.2 per cent of the register, while those aged 18 to 34 years constitute less than one-third of registered voters.

This is different from the 2023 voter data, where voters in the age bracket of 18 to 34 dominated the voter register at 39.65 per cent.

The register also shows a slight majority of male voters.

INEC said 53,528,218 men are registered to vote, representing 51.75 per cent of the register, while women account for 49,900,497, representing about 48.25 per cent.

Lagos leads, Ekiti lowest

Lagos State has the largest number of registered voters, with 7,488,633, followed by Kano State with 6,570,276 and Kaduna State with 4,662,640.

Katsina has 3,876,051 registered voters, while Rivers has 3,736,434. They are followed by Oyo with 3,588,111, Delta with 3,525,988, Benue with 3,057,225, Ogun with 3,037,981 and Bauchi with 3,012,547.

At the bottom of the table is Ekiti State, with 1,055,708 registered voters. Bayelsa has 1,200,691, while the Federal Capital Territory has 1,732,043.

Yobe and Gombe have 1,733,641 and 1,768,566 registered voters, respectively.

PWDs

INEC said the register also contains 232,658 persons with disabilities, spread across 10 categories.

Those classified under “others” constitute the largest category, with 101,183 voters, representing 43.49 per cent of registered persons with disabilities.

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They are followed by voters with albinism, numbering 44,023 (18.92 per cent), and those with physical impediments, numbering 27,141 (11.67 per cent).

The register also contains 19,936 voters with blindness, representing 8.57 per cent, and 14,326 voters with deafness, representing 6.16 per cent.

Other categories include autism, with 8,832 voters; cognitive or learning disabilities, 7,723; little people, 5,755; Down syndrome, 2,080; and spinal cord injury, 1,656.

The commission said the voter register would be displayed nationwide from 9 to 15 October to allow voters to scrutinise the details and raise claims or objections.

The final register for the 2027 general elections is expected to be presented to political parties on 15 December.