INEC Records Over 69,000 Online Voter Pre-Registrations in First Seven Hours
The Independent National Electoral Commission has announced a very strong start to its new Continuous Voter Registration exercise. According to the commission, a total of 69,376 Nigerians completed their online pre-registration within just the first seven hours of the registration portal going live.
The update was made in a press statement signed by Sam Olumekun, the National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee. He explained that the portal became active at 8:30 a.m., and by 3:30 p.m. the same day, thousands of citizens had already signed up.
Out of the total figure so far, 33,803 were male, which represents 48.7 percent, while 35,573 were female, accounting for 51.3 percent. A large majority of the participants, 48,033 people (69.2 percent), were young Nigerians between 18 and 34 years old.
INEC said the voter registration portal will remain open 24 hours a day, seven days a week throughout the registration period. The commission also plans to begin the in-person registration option at its 811 State and Local Government offices across the country on Monday, 25 August 2025. This option will be available from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., Mondays to Fridays only.
The two registration options — online and in-person — will run at the same time so that people can use whichever one they prefer. Those who have already completed the online pre-registration will be able to finish the rest of the process in person.
INEC also said it will release weekly updates on the progress of the Continuous Voter Registration. These updates will include a detailed breakdown by state, gender, age, occupation, and type of disability where applicable.
The commission reminded Nigerians that voter registration is only open to citizens who are at least 18 years old and who have never registered before. It warned that double registration is a violation of the law and will not be tolerated.
However, the commission noted that inter-state and intra-state transfers of voter registration and the replacement of lost or damaged voter cards are allowed during the ongoing CVR exercise.
