*Says “Lagos Leads Nigeria’s 103.4 Million Voter Register With 7.49m, Kano Follows With 6.57m”
![](https://thenigerialawyer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/2026-IDRI-Masterclass.png")
The Independent National Electoral Commission has announced that Nigeria’s national voter register contains 103,428,715 voters ahead of the 2027 general elections, and that the register will be displayed for public scrutiny from 9 to 15 October 2026, with nationwide collection of newly issued Permanent Voter Cards beginning on Friday, 9 October.
The Commission’s Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, SAN, presented the figures on Tuesday, 6 October 2026, at a World Press Conference and National Stakeholders Meeting in Abuja, where he also disclosed the creation of a dedicated Artificial Intelligence Division within the Commission’s Information and Communications Technology Department, warned of the threat posed by deepfakes, and said the Commission had removed its staff from the civil service salary structure because they were the least paid workers in the country.
Lagos retains the largest registered electorate with 7,488,633 voters, followed by Kano with 6,570,276 — a difference of 918,357 — and Kaduna in third place with 4,662,640.
Katsina ranked fourth with 3,876,051, followed by Rivers with 3,736,434, Oyo with 3,588,111 and Delta with 3,525,988. The remainder of the top ten were Benue with 3,057,225, Ogun with 3,037,981 and Bauchi with 3,012,547.
Those ten states together account for 42,555,886 registered voters, or about 41.15 per cent of the national register.
Gender: A 3.5-Point Lead
The Commission put the number of male registered voters at 53,528,218, or 51.75 per cent of the register, and female voters at 49,900,497, or 48.25 per cent.
The difference between the two is 3,627,721, giving men a lead of 3.5 percentage points in registration.
Age: The 35-To-49 Band Is The Largest
Voters aged 35 to 49 form the largest group on the register at 43,265,946, or 41.83 per cent.
Those aged 18 to 34 are the second largest at 29,777,576, or 28.79 per cent. Voters aged 50 to 69 number 22,982,900, or 22.22 per cent, and those aged 70 and above account for 7,402,291, or 7.16 per cent.
Disability: 232,658 Across Ten Categories
“The register records 232,658 persons with disabilities, spread across 10 disability categories,” Amupitan said. The figure represents about 0.23 per cent of registered voters nationwide.
The largest category is labelled “others,” comprising 101,183 voters, or 43.49 per cent of registered persons with disabilities. Persons with albinism follow with 44,023, or 18.92 per cent, and those recorded under physical impairment number 27,141, or 11.67 per cent.
The remaining categories are visual impairment with 19,936, hearing impairment with 14,326, autism with 8,832, cognitive or learning disabilities with 7,723, limb impairment with 5,755, Down syndrome with 2,008 and spinal cord injury with 1,656.
How The Register Was Compiled
The register follows the Commission’s three-phase Continuous Voter Registration exercise and a biometric verification process.
Speaking at a strategic workshop for editors in Abuja on Monday, Amupitan said the registration exercise attracted more than 10.6 million new applicants, and that the final cleanup under the Automated Biometric Identification System had been completed.
Display, Claims And Objections
Amupitan said the register would be displayed for public scrutiny from 9 to 15 October 2026, enabling Nigerians to examine entries and submit claims or objections ahead of the elections.
Nationwide collection of newly issued Permanent Voter Cards is scheduled to begin on the same Friday, 9 October.
The Artificial Intelligence Division
Amupitan said the Commission had created a dedicated Artificial Intelligence Division within its ICT Department to strengthen its ability to detect anomalies and counter disinformation.
“The commission has established a dedicated artificial intelligence division within the ICT department. Automated AI auditing tools have been integrated into our results verification process, under a five-pillar AI governance framework, operating under mandatory human oversight,” he said.
He added: “An AI governance framework policy is being finalised by the commission. In partnership with international technology leaders and partners, we are integrating our AI-driven anomaly detection tools.”
“When Deepfakes Render Lies Believable”
The chairman expressed concern about the growing use of generative artificial intelligence, voice cloning and deepfake videos to fabricate the voices of election officials, result sheets and other official documents.
He said the greater risk was not that voters would be deceived by any particular fabrication, but that the volume of convincing falsehood would corrode belief in genuine information released by constitutional authorities.
“The greater danger is not any single falsehood. When deepfakes render lies believable, real truth is treated with scepticism, and cynicism replaces civil engagement,” Amupitan said.
He said the Commission would combine technology with public education and collaboration with the media, and urged journalists to use digital forensic tools and to verify election-related information before publication.
He also cautioned media organisations against publishing privately collated results or premature declarations.
“Resist the declaration of privately collated results, because under the Electoral Act, the authority to declare results rests exclusively with the Commission,” he said.
BVAS, Stress Tests And A November Mock Accreditation
Beyond the artificial intelligence initiative, the Commission said it was upgrading its Bimodal Voter Accreditation System devices, conducting nationwide audits and stress tests, and planning a nationwide mock accreditation exercise in November.
It also disclosed plans for a situation room to provide real-time monitoring before, during and after the elections, and said training and technical support programmes for election personnel would continue into 2027.
“INEC Staff Are The Least Paid In Nigeria”
Amupitan said the Commission had taken steps to improve the welfare of its personnel, and that better remuneration was necessary if staff were to be held accountable.
“INEC staff are the least paid in Nigeria. So, we felt if we want to demand and hold our staff responsible, we should give them a living wage,” he said.
He said the Commission had taken “some very radical steps” to prioritise staff welfare, and that it no longer operates under the civil service payment structure.
“We are not called civil servants. What we have learned under the civil service payment structure, which we have just removed INEC from, is to have their own separate structure, electoral structure, and separate salary structure from the civil service,” he said.
He said the Commission had identified several gaps within the electoral system and was addressing them. “There are many others that we have discovered. And we felt that if they address all, it will be able to solve some of the problems we have with the system,” he said.
On Reruns
Asked about rerun elections, the chairman said the Commission was already making provision for them.
“The issue of rerun is a constitutional matter. And as we are planning for the election, you have to plan for a rerun,” Amupitan said, adding that the procedures and protocols for conducting reruns were provided for in the Constitution.
[A MUST HAVE] Evidence Act Demystified With Recent And Contemporary Cases And Materials
Available now for NGN 40,000 at ASC Publications, 10, Boyle Street, Onikan, Lagos. Beside High Court, TBS. Email publications@ayindesanni.com or WhatsApp +2347056667384. Purchase Link: https://paystack.com/buy/evidence-act-complete-annotation
______________________________________________________________________ “Enhance Legal Practice With Authoritative Reports” — Alexander Payne Offers Comprehensive Law Reports, Spanning Over A Century Of Nigerian Jurisprudence
Interested buyers are encouraged to place their orders and enquiries via:
0704 444 4777, 0704 444 4999, 0818 199 9888
Website: www.alexandernigeria.com
