The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has officially ended the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise, which started last year.
The total number of registered voters who completed their registration (online and physical) at the close of the CVR exercise stood at 12.29 million.
On June 28, 2021, INEC resumed the CVR and has since then given weekly updates of the online pre-registration and the physical completion of registration by voters.
The CVR was initially scheduled to end on June 30. However, on that day, the Commission, through its National Electoral Commissioner for Information and Voter Education, Festus Okoye, announced an extension of the exercise to ensure that all eligible Nigerians get registered.
The CRV was first extended by 15 days, then another 2 weeks, bringing the total duration for the extension to 31 days (July 1st-31st).
This new deadline elapsed on Sunday, July 31st, and the electoral Commission has stated there would be no further extension as they need to carry out other functions, which among others, include the clean up of the voter register for double and multiple registrations.
As the exercise finally ends, Dataphyte looks at the figure of those who completed their registration in the year-long CVR exercise and will join other registered voters from previous elections to decide the country’s fate in the 2023 general election.
Number of Completed Registrations
Data released by INEC shows that 12.29 million persons completed their registration. Of this figure, 3.44 million were done online, while 8.85 million were done physically. By this figure, the total number of registered voters for the 2023 election is an estimated 96.3 million.
| Election Year | Number of Registered Voters (Millions) | Percentage Increase of New Registration |
| 1999 | 57.94 | – |
| 2003 | 60.82 | 4.98 |
| 2007 | 61.57 | 1.22 |
| 2011 | 73.53 | 19.43 |
| 2015 | 67.42 | -8.30 |
| 2019 | 84.00 | 24.59 |
| 2023* estimated | 96.30 | 14.64 |
This figure is, however, subject to change after the electoral body cleans up the voter register for double registration.
Completed PVC Registration by States
At the end of the CVR exercise on July 31, the data published by INEC shows that Lagos has the highest number of persons who completed their PVC registration. The state has a total of 585,629 persons who completed their registration, followed by Kano with 569,103. Delta state came third with 523,517.
On the other hand, Ekiti, Yobe, and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) recorded the least number of registrations. Ekiti and Yobe recorded 124,844 and 152,844 completed registrations, respectively, while the FCT had 211,341.
Number of Males and Females who Completed their PVC Registration
As earlier stated, 12.29 million persons completed their registration in the just concluded CVR exercise. Of this figure, 6.22 million, 50.6% of those who completed their PVC registration are females, while 6.07 million, 49.4% are males.
It is worth mentioning that 84,083 Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) completed their registration across genders. This is 0.68% of the 12.29 million completed registrations.
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Completed PVC Registration by Age Group
A breakdown of the data shows that 71.4% (8.78 million) of those who completed their registration are youth. This means that out of every 10 persons who completed their registration, at least 7 fall within 18-34 years range; the Soroke generation.
Following is the middle age group, which accounts for 19.8% of the total number of persons who completed their registration. The elderly and the Aged (70 years and above) account for 7.8% and 1% of the completed PVC registration, respectively.
Completed PVC Registration by Occupation
Students constitute the highest population of those who completed their registration. Of the 12.29 million who completed their registration, 4.5 million persons identified themselves as students.
Those into business and farming/fishing followed with 2.24 and 1.54 million respectively.
At the bottom are Public Servants and Civil Servants, with 124,027 and 381,254 completed registration, respectively.
Completed PVC Registration by Geo-Political Zones
Nigeria has six geo-political zones. 2.51 million persons in the North-West completed their PVC registration making it the region with the highest registrations.
In the South-South, 4.46 million completed their registration. The North-Central and South-West followed with 2.31 million and 2.04 million respectively.
The North-East and South-East recorded less than 2 million, making them the two regions with the lowest number of persons who completed their registration at the end of the CVR exercise.