We’re 20 days from Nigeria’s 2023 presidential elections and 34 days from the state elections. Here is a breakdown of voters who will decide the outcome of the election:
The North-West has the highest number of registered voters
North-West Nigeria has the highest number of registered voters at 22,255,562, an increase from the previous election year, 2019, when 20,158,100 voters were registered.
Other geopolitical zones also experienced increased registered voters: in the South-West, 17,985,966 voters were registered compared to 16,292,212 in 2019; in the North-Central, 17,958,966 voters were recorded in 2023 and 13,366,070 in 2019. In 2019, 12,841,279 voters were registered in the South-South, but in 2023, we witnessed an increase to 14,440,714. The North-East also saw an increase from 11,289,293 to 12,542,429 voters.
However, this improvement in the number of voters didn’t happen in the South-East. In 2019, there were a total of 10,057,130 registered voters, and in 2023, there were 10,907,606 registered voters. Some of the factors that might be responsible for this are:
- Insecurity
- The sit-at-home order declared by the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB)
There are more male than female voters
Women have fought for their participation and representation in politics and government for years. And getting your Permanent Voters’ Card (PVC) is one of the first steps to ensuring this happens. This year, the number of registered voters is 96,303,208, and it once again looks like there’ll be more male voters than female. Statistics show that the percentage of male and female voters are 52.5% and 47.5%, respectively. This is similar to the 2019 elections, where the ratio of male to female voters was 52.86% to 47.14%.
The youths determine who emerges victorious at the polls
Every year, youths constitute the highest proportion of voters. For the 2023 Nigeria elections, 37,060,399 youths (39.5%) are registered to vote out of 96.3 million voters.
This also happened in the 2019 elections, where the youth made up 51.1% of registered voters.
Lagos has the highest number of registered voters
As with the 2019 elections, for the upcoming 2023 elections, Lagos recorded the highest voter registrations at 7,060,195. Other states with high voter registrations are Kano, Kaduna, Rivers and Katsina.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has extended the collection of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) to February 5, 2023. The country is in a dire state right now. You still have a chance to pick up your PVC. Let’s fight for our lives and build a country where we don’t have to see premium shege every other week.
