Edo Voter Register Hits 2.86m as Nigeria’s Electoral Roll Rises to 103.4m
By Reporter
BENIN CITY — Edo State has emerged as the 14th largest voting bloc in Nigeria, with 2,865,263 registered voters, according to the 2026 National Register of Voters released by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The latest register puts Nigeria’s total number of registered voters at 103,428,715, following the completion of the three-phase Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise and subsequent biometric verification and clean-up.
Edo’s 2.86 million registered voters place the state ahead of Jigawa, Borno, Imo, Sokoto, Akwa Ibom and several other states, but behind Plateau, Anambra and Niger, which occupy the positions immediately above it.
The figure gives Edo one of the largest voter populations in the South-South geopolitical zone. The zone collectively accounts for 15,823,550 registered voters, representing about 15.3 per cent of the national register.
The new figures are expected to have major political implications as parties and candidates intensify preparations for the 2027 presidential, National Assembly and other elections.
At the national level, Lagos leads the register with 7,488,633 voters, followed by Kano with 6,570,276 and Kaduna with 4,662,640.
Katsina has 3,876,051 registered voters, Rivers 3,736,434, Oyo 3,588,111 and Delta 3,525,988. Benue, Ogun and Bauchi complete the top 10 states with 3,057,225, 3,037,981 and 3,012,547 voters respectively.
INEC said the CVR exercise produced 10,772,421 new registrations, which were subjected to biometric verification and clean-up before the latest register was compiled.
At the bottom of the national table are Ekiti with 1,055,708 voters and Bayelsa with 1,200,691. The Federal Capital Territory has 1,732,043 registered voters.
With Edo now accounting for nearly 2.8 per cent of Nigeria’s registered electorate, the state’s voter population places it among the strategically important states whose turnout and voting pattern could significantly influence the 2027 electoral calculations.
The release of the register also shifts attention to voter mobilisation, Permanent Voter Card collection and the ability of political parties to translate registered voters into actual turnout on election day.
INEC has announced that collection of newly issued Permanent Voter Cards will commence nationwide on October 9, 2026, as the commission enters the final phase of preparations for the 2027 elections.
