The South West Zone has recorded the highest figures during the first week of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) online voter pre-registration exercise, accounting for more than 61 percent of the 1,379,342 applications submitted between August 18 and 24, 2025.
INEC made the revelation as it commenced the physical registration stage on Monday, August 25, 2025. According to data released by the commission, Osun State topped the online registration chart with 393,269 applications, followed by Lagos State with 222,205 and Ogun State with 132,823.
Oyo State recorded 66,951 pre-registrations, Ekiti State had 29,685, while Ondo State registered 3,426 applicants. Collectively, the South West contributed 848,359 applications to the national total.
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The South South Zone ranked second with 169,377 applications, while the South East recorded the lowest figure among the six geopolitical zones with 64,696 pre-registrations. Anambra State accounted for the bulk of the South East’s tally with 62,698 registrations, whereas Abia (772), Ebonyi (261), Enugu (484), and Imo (481) recorded minimal figures.
In the northern region, the North Central Zone, including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), led with 243,768 pre-registrations, largely driven by the FCT’s 107,682 and Kogi State’s 58,546. The North West recorded 145,490 applications, while the North East posted the lowest regional figure with 77,652, representing just 5.6 percent of the national total.
Overall, southern Nigeria accounted for 66.2 percent (912,432) of all registrations, compared to 33.8 percent (466,910) from the northern region.
The demographic breakdown of online registrants shows that youths aged 18–34 years constituted the majority, making up 62.37 percent (860,286) of applicants. Middle-aged individuals aged 35–49 years followed with 24.76 percent, while those aged 50–69 years represented 11.41 percent. Citizens aged 70 and above made up 1.46 percent of the total.
Gender distribution revealed that women slightly outnumbered men, accounting for 52.04 percent (717,856) compared to men at 47.96 percent (661,486). Students emerged as the largest occupational group with 27.15 percent (374,534), followed by businesspersons at 24.82 percent (342,363) and traders at 11.68 percent (161,137). Artisans represented 10.12 percent, while farmers and fishers contributed 9.23 percent. Civil and public servants collectively comprised less than five percent of the pre-registrants.
INEC emphasized that the current figures reflect online and preliminary registrations only, as applicants are required to complete their registration at designated physical registration centers to be officially added to the voter register.
The commission announced that the continuous voters’ registration (CVR) is taking place at 811 centers nationwide, including all 774 Local Government Area offices and state offices, operating from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Monday through Friday.
