Nigeria voters 19 million more than other West African countries – INEC

Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Chairman Prof. Mahmood Yakubu said on Tuesday the number of registered voters in Nigeria surpassed 14 other West African countries by 19 million.

Yakubu, who spoke when the European Union Ambassador to Nigeria and West Africa, Samuela Isopi, visited him at the commission’s headquarters in Abuja, said Nigeria has over 93 million registered voters during the 2023 general elections while the rest of West Africa has 74 million.

He said the KPU will continue to synergize with various stakeholders to improve the implementation of elections and deepen democracy.

Yakubu said: “There are 74 million registered voters in West Africa. By 2023, we will have 93 million registered workers in Nigeria, which is almost 10 million more than the other 14 countries combined.

“So every time Nigerians go to the polls, it is like holding elections for the whole of West Africa and parts of Central Africa.

“For example, Nigeria registered about 119,000 voters in Edo State alone, and an additional 55,000 in Ondo State, bringing the total to 177,000 new voters. In contrast, Ghana registered only 70,000 new voters nationwide during a similar exercise.

“In fact, recently, the Electoral Commission in Ghana did the equivalent of what we call Continuous Voter Registration.

“In Ghana, they call it a dummy to allow citizens who are of legal age or those who have not been able to register for one reason or another in the past to register.

“One of the targets of the Electoral Commission in Ghana is to register 70,000 new voters across the country. But here, in the last Continuous Voter Registration in Edo State alone, we registered 119,000 new voters.”

Post Nigeria voters 19 million more than other West Africans – INEC appeared first on Latest Nigeria News | Headlines from Ripples Nigeria.