These 10 states have over 42 million registered voters — see where most Nigerian voters are

Kano and Kaduna follow with 6,570,276 and 4,662,640, respectively.

The top 10 states account for more than 42.5 million registered voters.

Nigeria’s updated voter register now stands at 103,428,715.

Nigeria’s voter register has crossed 103 million, but the size of the electorate becomes more striking when the figures are broken down by state.

Lagos, Kano and Kaduna alone have 18,721,549 registered voters, according to the latest figures released by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The three states account for about 18 per cent of Nigeria’s 103,428,715 registered voters, giving them the largest concentrations of registered voters ahead of the 2027 general elections.

Lagos State, which was awarded the best-performing state in 2026, has the largest register with 7,488,633 voters, followed by Kano with 6,570,276 and Kaduna with 4,662,640.

The figures were announced by INEC Chairman Professor Joash Amupitan at a stakeholders’ meeting and press conference in Abuja on October 6, following the completion of the commission’s three-phase Continuous Voter Registration exercise and biometric clean-up.

The gap between the three leading states and the rest of the country is notable. Katsina is fourth with 3,876,051 registered voters, while Rivers has 3,736,434. Oyo follows with 3,588,111, and Delta has 3,525,988.

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Benue has 3,057,225, Ogun has 3,037,981, while Bauchi completes the top 10 with 3,012,547.

Together, the 10 states have more than 42.5 million registered voters, representing roughly 41 per cent of the national register.

The distribution also shows a strong concentration of voters in the North-West and South-West, with the North-West having 25,083,411 registered voters and the South-West having 19,614,274. Combined, the two zones account for more than 44.6 million voters.

Aside from geography, the new register’s age profile shows that voters below 50 make up the clear majority of the electorate.

A woman casts her vote at a polling station in Lagos, Nigeria, Saturday, February 25, 2023 [Ben Curtis/AP Photo] People aged 35 to 49 form the largest group, with 43,265,946 voters, representing 41.83 per cent of the register. Those aged 18 to 34 account for another 29,777,576, or 28.79 per cent.

Combined, the two groups represent more than 73 million registered voters. Voters aged 50 to 69 account for 22.22 per cent, while those aged 70 and above make up 7.16 per cent.

The gender split is considerably closer, as INEC recorded 53,528,218 male voters (51.75 per cent) and 49,900,497 female voters (48.25 per cent).

The latest register also reflects more than 10 million new registrations. INEC said its three-phase registration exercise produced 10,772,421 new registrations, which were subjected to biometric verification and a clean-up process before the updated register was released.

INEC said a nationwide collection of newly issued Permanent Voter Cards will begin on October 9, 2026, while the voters’ register will be displayed for public scrutiny from October 9 to 15.

Nigerians will be able to inspect the register and raise claims or objections where necessary.

The numbers do not show how any state will vote in 2027, and a large registered electorate does not necessarily mean an equally large turnout on election day. They simply show where registered voters are concentrated as Nigeria moves closer to the polls.