Over 103 million names for voters register as e remain 100 days to general election - Inec

Di Independent National Electoral Commission (Inec) don annouce say Nigeria National Register of Voters don get more dan 103 million names inside, as di commission don complete di three-phase Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise and final biometric cleanup.

Inec Chairman, Professor Joash Amupitan, annouce dis during di World Press Conference and National Stakeholders Meeting wey hold on Tuesday wia e tok say Lagos and Kano dey lead out of di 103 million voters wey Nigeria get.

Amupitan tok say na total 10,772,421 new voters dem register afta dem complete di Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS) exercise.

E annoucse say Lagos State dey lead wit 7,488,633 voters and Kano State be di di second highest get 6,570,276 voters.

"Di national voter register don reach 103 million, Nigeria na di biggest democracy for Africa. Lagos State dey lead wit 7,488,633 voters, Kano State wit 6,570,276. Afta dat na Kaduna State wit 4,662,640 voters," Amupitan tok.

Oda states na Katsina State wit 3,876,051 registered voters; Rivers State, 3,736,434; Oyo State, 3,588,111; Delta State, 3,525,988; Benue State, 3,057,225; Ogun State, 3,037,981; and Bauchi State, 3,012,547.

"Ekiti State get registered voters of 1,055,708, den Bayelsa State wit 1,200,691 voters. Di FCT get 1,772,043 voters, den Yobe State wit 1,733,641, and Gombe wit."

Di Inec oga also explain say according to section 19(1) of di Electoral Act, di commission go publish di voters register from 9 to 15 October, 2026, so dat di general public go fit chook am eye and point out if any errors dey inside.

Inec go deploy AI for 2027 general elections result verification - Amupitan

Inec also annouce say dem go deploy Artificial Intelligence (AI) for result verification.

Inec Chairman, Professor Joash Amupitan tok say dem go deploy new technology for di January 16, 2027, presidential and legislative elections and di governorship and state assembly elections wey go hold on February 6.

Amupitan tok say AI-driven anomaly detection tools go monitor database traffic and help protect public portals attacks from cyber intrusions and unauthorised alternations.

Di commission also plan to use enhanced result-transmission system to verify polling-unit result sheets bifor dem go upload am directly to dia public results portal.

"Artificial intelligence governance. Di commission don set up dedicated artificial intelligence division within di ICT department. Automated AI auditing tools dey integrated into our result verification process under five-pillar AI governance framework, wey dey operate under di mandatory human oversight," Amupitan tok.

"Di Commission don finalise AI governance framework policy wit partnership from international technology leaders, we dey integrate our AI-driven anomaly detection tools to monitor database traffic and protect our public portals against cyber attacks or unauthorized changes."

"Nationwide mock accreditation: comprehensive election simulation and mock accreditation exercise go hold nationwide for November 2026 to test personnel, hardware, and network protocols under operational conditions."

"Election security, anti-vote buying, and administrative discipline. Electoral integrity requires fiscal and fiscal security and ethical discipline. Under our risk management tool (ERM) and di election violence mitigation and advocacy tool (FMAT) di Commission dey monitor political activities, tracking risk incidents, and dey carry out field risk assessment in order to further fine-tune our security strategy for di 2027 general election," Amupitan tok.

Improved workers welfare

Di Inec chairman also tok say im administration don comot staff of di commission from di civil service paymen structure, so dat dem go fit improve dia pay and welfare packages.

Amupitan say Inec staff bin folo for di worst-paid workers for Nigeria and dat na why dem gatz take drastic measures to change am.

"INEC staff na di least paid for Nigeria. So, we feel say if we wan demand and hold our staff responsible, we suppose give dem living wage," e tok.

"Dem no dey call us civil servants (again). Wetin we don learn unda di civil service payment structure, wey we don comot INEC from, na to get our own separate structure, electoral structure, and separate salary structure from di civil service," e add.

Some states already collecting some non-sensitive materials

Inec tok say dem go start to distribute non-sensitive materials go some states ahead of di next elections.

E add say di procurement process for di printing of ballot papers dey go on and dem don nearly complete di results sheets.

Amupitan tok say na big task to deliver non-sensitive materials and sensitive materials go 176,846 pooling units across 8,838 registration areas and dem don renew dia commitment wit di transportation association wey go fit help dem reach dis places.

E add say say dem don renew and strengthen di memorandum of understanding wit transportation associations all ova di kontri and ova 100,000 vehicles and 4000 boats go carry Inec personnel and materials to places wey dey difficult to reach.

"Election na di biggest peacetime logistic work wey we dey undertake for our nation. To deliver non-sensitive materials and sensitive materials go 176,846 pooling units across 8,838 registration areas, including urban areas, remote river communities, rough mountainous side, and desert edges need strong logistic framework," e tok

57,000 new BVAS devices

Amupitan tok say di commission don buy 57,000 new BVAS devices, voting cubicles and ballot boxes for some electoral process.

E tok say Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) devices don undergo software hardening, battery optimisation and biometric calibration wey dey aimed at stopping accreditation bypass and manual manipulation.

E add say dem go do six-day stress test for all di BVAS on October 23-28, den technical-support training go follow for November and strategic briefing go happun for December.

"We don award offshore production and fleets contracts, and production of 57,000 new BVAS' devices don advance, additional voting cubicus and ballot boxes. Dem don deliver some of di newly acquired BVAS."

Voters card collection go start October 9

Inec tok say dem start to distribute Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) across all local government centres on October 9, 2026

"According to di constitution distribution of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) no go pass 90 days bifor di election. Di first phase distribution of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) for all local government centres go start on October 9, 2026."

Amupitan also announce say na 53,528,218 na male voters about 51.75 %, while female voters dey 49,900,497 na female voters about 48.25 % of di 103 million registered voters. E tok say di age profile show voters between ages 35-49 get di highest registered voters about 41.83% while di ages 70 years and above get di smallest registered votes about 7.16%.