Not more than 95 million Nigerians will vote in next year’s general elections, according to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The presidential and National Assembly elections are scheduled for 25th February, while the governorship and state assembly polls hold a fortnight after.
At an event organised by the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) and the International Foundation for Electoral Systems at the NED headquarters in Washington DC, United States, the INEC Chairman, Prof, Mahmood Yakubu said: “There are 18 political parties in the race to produce the next President to be elected by 95 million voters. We had over 84 million registered voters in 2019. But with the last Continuous Registration of Voters, we are going to add at least 10 million Nigerians and that will take the register of voters to 95 million”.
Yakubu further said: “The election is significant because the incumbent President is not eligible to run, this being his second and final term.
“I say this and I won’t be tired of saying it to an audience like this: In West Africa, there are 15 countries including Nigeria. But the total number of registered voters in the 14 countries combined is 73 million. In Nigeria, it’s going to be 95 million”.
The campaign for the elections has now officially commenced with the state elections – governorship and state assembly – being allowed from today to mobilise support. The presidential and National Assembly elections campaign had been flagged off two weeks ago.
