The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, on Wednesday, says the voter register had Swollen up to 93.5m.
A breakdown indicates that Lagos has 7.57 per cent; Kano, 6.34 per cent; Kaduna, 4.65 per cent; Rivers, 3.77 per cent; Katsina, 3.76 per cent and Oyo 3.51 per cent.
Checks by The PUNCH indicate that voters in the six states constitute 27.68m or 29.59 per cent of the entire registered voters.
According to the preliminary voter register, Lagos, Kano, Kaduna and Rivers states lead with 7,075,192; 5,927,565; 4,345,469 and 3,532,990, respectively.
They are followed by Katsina with 3,519,260 and Oyo, with 3,275,045.
Further analysis also revealed that the North-West geopolitical zone, which comprises the seven states of Kano, Katsina, Kaduna, Kebbi, Sokoto, Zamfara and Jigawa, with a total of 22.27m voters, has the highest number of registered voters.
Lagos maintained its position as the state with the highest number of registered voters, increasing its figure from 6.5m to 7.07m.
Kano State also added 469,818 new voters to increase its number to 5.9m voters.
Kaduna now has 4.3m voters while Rivers state overtook Katsina as the fourth largest state in terms of voters.
While Rivers now has 3.53m voters, Katsina has 3.51m.
The INEC boss also noted that the Commission was also working hard to ensure the completion of printing of remaining Permanent Voter Cards for new voters as well as those that applied to transfer or the replacement of their lost or damaged cards.
He also stated that “In the coming days, we will also inform Nigerians of the detailed plan to ensure a seamless collection of the PVCs. We are aware that Nigerians expect an improvement in the procedure for PVC collection. Since the end of the CVR in July this year, we have been working to ensure that citizens have a pleasant experience when they come to collect their cards.’’
PUNCH
