Voters’ Registration: Poor turnout in South East sparks concern
The Independent National Electoral Commission on Monday announced that over 3.5 million Nigerians have completed online pre-registration in the ongoing nationwide Continuous Voter Registration exercise.
the update was provided in a press release issued on Monday by Sam Olumekun, National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee.
“As at Sunday 7th September 2025, a total of 3,544,850 Nigerians have now pre-registered online in three weeks since the commencement of the exercise on 18th August 2025,” the statement read.
A breakdown of the figures according to state showed that Osun recorded the highest number of online pre-registrants with 518,635. Lagos followed with 440,647, Ogun with 348,217, and Borno with 296,409.
Kebbi recorded 193,781, while Kaduna and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) accounted for 187,480 and 180,260, respectively.
Yobe had 173,731, followed by Kogi with 166,010, Oyo with 160,652, and Kwara with 78,245. Ekiti followed with 74,423, Kano with 66,091, Delta with 62,192, and Imo with 61,341.
Sokoto recorded 54,084, Jigawa 48,285, Bauchi 46,504, Katsina 47,220, and Niger 62,819. Zamfara followed with 32,784, Plateau with 32,000, and Akwa Ibom with 31,081.
Cross River had 22,938, Benue 20,786, Rivers 19,294, and Gombe 18,630. Taraba registered 17,324, Bayelsa 13,374, and Ondo 9,033.
Adamawa recorded 8,849, Edo 7,893, Abia 2,629, Ebonyi 1,616, and Enugu the lowest with 1,203.
the south west region is leading the exercise, with a huge turnout of residents for the exercise. States in the north have begun renewed efforts to mobilise eligible citizens for the exercise.
However, the story is different in the south east, where the development has triggered concern among stakeholders, who now are demanding urgent action to address the situation.
‘You’re lagging behind others’ – El-Rufai
Last week, a former governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, had expressed concern about the development in the South East.
El-Rufai, also a former Minister of the FCT, appealed to the people of the South-East part of the country to take the continuous voter registration exercise very seriously.
El-Rufai made the appeal at an event in Imo State, lamenting that the south-east was lagging behind in the ongoing CVR exercise.
“Because the governance of our country today is democratic, we elect our leaders – we don’t select them, we don’t appoint them. So Voting is important. Registering to vote is a civic duty. This is not a political imperative. It is a civil duty, which, as a citizen, you must take advantage of.
“Looking at the numbers of the continuous voter registry in Nigeria in the last two weeks, the South East, including Imo state, of course, are lagging behind the rest of Nigeria.
“I want to appeal to you, our mothers, our sisters, our daughters that are in this room, please take this up and get our children that are 16 years and above, who will be 18 years in two years, and ready to vote. So please go out and register to vote. It is very important,” he said.
Too early to judge – APC chieftain
Meanwhile, Enugu State chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Ugochukwu Agballah, has urged residents of the South East to take advantage of the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration, CVR, exercise and come out in large numbers to register.
Speaking in an interview with DAILY POST on Tuesday, Agballah expressed concern over the low turnout so far but maintained that it was still too early to judge the process.
He said: “I don’t think it’s a matter of concern because we have just started. We can’t use the outcome of these few days to determine, taking into consideration that the exercise has a long way to go. But I encourage our people to come out en masse and register.”
According to him, the tendency of residents to delay participation could cause avoidable last-minute congestion.
“Obviously, we are lagging behind. And knowing our people, some would wait until the last moment, and then there would be long queues. I encourage them to do whatever they can to come out in time,” he added.
Agballah also called on different institutions and community leaders to mobilize residents for the exercise.
“I encourage the government to use the publicity arms of the government — state, local government — to encourage our people.
“Also, I wish to call on our town unions, our various cultural associations, and traditional rulers to use their good offices to encourage our people to come out and register,” he added.
He noted that political parties were already mobilizing their members and playing their part in the process.
The APC chieftain urged the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to sustain its awareness campaign and ensure the registration exercise remains seamless.
Agballah stressed that the South East has historically played a decisive role in national elections through strong voter turnout in other regions.
“If you notice, I didn’t mention political parties, because I’m aware the political parties, each of them, are doing their best to ensure our people are registered, most especially their members.
“I’m aware that the various political parties are already using their organs, using their rich extensive membership to encourage our people to participate in the voters’ registration. They’re doing their best, which is normal, because they are usually the beneficiaries of that registration.
“I’m sure this time our people are going to register very well. And also, the way INEC started the exercise in time, I am once again appealing to INEC itself to continue in its publicity effort and to make sure that those who come to register, they don’t put impediments in their way.
“Most times when you ascribe strength of registration straight to some states, the majority of them are people from the South East, as we saw in the last election, where the interest of the South East became the decider in most of the states due to their massive registration in those states.”
Igbos suffering political apathy – Analyst
Similarly, a Public Affairs Analyst and Communication Scholar at Peaceland University, Enugu, Nduka Odo, attributed the low turnout of South East residents in the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration, CVR, exercise to long-standing political apathy in the region.
Speaking in an interview with DAILY POST, Odo dismissed speculations that the ruling party was working to suppress voter registration in the South East.
According to him, the real challenge lies in the loss of faith many residents feel toward the political system.
He said: “When it comes to the voter registration being conducted by INEC, I don’t want to subscribe to some permutations that the ruling party is trying to suppress voter registration in the South East due to the fact that the party doesn’t see it as its stronghold. That is an external factor.
“There are a number of reasons why the South East is lagging behind in the ongoing vote registration. The primary reason is the loss of the feeling of sense of belonging.
“A great percentage of the South East population has the feeling that they have nothing to benefit from the political system of the country. This feeling is long held from the aftermath of the Biafran civil war.
“Apathy has been strongest in the region since they feel other regions have some clandestine agreement to keep easterners out of central power,” he explained.
Odo warned that such indifference was detrimental both to the region and to the country at large.
He added that political leaders and aspirants from the region must do more to sensitize and mobilize their people.
“This is bad for national cohesion. It is even worse for the region. As unfair as it seems, power is never given. People do whatever it takes to retain power.
“This means it’s left for the south easterners to understand that staying away from the tools of political power like voter registration further destabilises their ground at the federal level.
“Leaders and aspirants from the region hold the responsibility to empower their home base. This is the only way they can negotiate for larger shares at the centre,” Odo stressed.
Mobilization ongoing in rural communities – Lawmaker
On his part, a member of the Enugu State House of Assembly representing Nsukka West Constituency, Malachy Onyechi, appealed to residents of the South East to change the narrative.
Onyechi noted that low turnout in the region was largely due to the tendency of residents to delay registration.
Onyechi explained that efforts were ongoing to mobilize rural communities and raise awareness about the exercise.
He said: “The fact is that our people are always relaxed when it comes to voter registration. They always like leaving things for the dying minutes, and it has not been a very good thing for the South East.
“We have equally urged our people to come out and register. We are mobilizing a campaign to create awareness among the rural dwellers, some of whom may not even be aware of what’s going on, to see how they can come and register,” he stated.
He assured that sustained sensitization would improve participation across the region.
Onyechi, however, noted that economic activities often discourage residents from prioritizing voter registration.
“We will continue to encourage and create awareness in the South East so they can register before the exercise wraps up. So certainly many of them must be registered.
“But you also have to bear in mind that Igbos are always busy with their business. Most times they find it very difficult to leave their business to come and do such things.
“But with the awareness and the strategies the governments are putting in place, definitely things must change for the better,” he added.
