The North-West geopolitical zone has the highest number of registered voters in the country with a total of 18,505,984 voters, according to statistics obtained by The PUNCH from the Independent National Electoral Commission.
The South-West zone, which comprises Ekiti, Lagos, Ondo, Ogun, Osun and Oyo states, comes second with a total number of 14,626,800 registered voters, while the South-East which has the lowest number of states has 8,293,093 registered voters.
According to the statistics Lagos now has 6,048,156 registered voters, while Kano comes second with 5,149,070 voters.
With a total of 754,394, Bayelsa has the lowest number of registered voters, which is lower than the Federal Capital Territory with a total of 952, 815.
So far, the total number of registered voters across the country is 73,944,312.
The number of registered voters was as of January 2018.
However, INEC projects that the number of registered voters might reach 80 million before the December 2018 deadline for voter registration.
The total number of voters in the 2015 elections was 68,833,476.
Over 5,110,836 persons have registered between April 2017 when the Continuous Voter Registration began and January 31, 2018.
The number of uncollected Permanent Voter Cards remains high as less than half of the registered voters have collected their PVCs.
Lagos, according to INEC, has over 1.4 million uncollected voter cards.
Buhari will seek re-election in 2019 –SGF
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, on Thursday affirmed that President Muhammadu Buhari would seek re-election in 2019.
He stated that there was no alternative to Buhari, adding that other presidential aspirants had nothing to offer.
The SGF spoke at the Unity Fountain in Abuja while addressing a rally organised by the Democratic Youth Congress, led by its National Chairman, Kassim Mohammed.
The group had urged Buhari to declare his intention to contest in the 2019 presidential election.
Mustapha said, “We do not have an alternative to President Muhammadu Buhari for now. I will present your message to him. I congratulate you for your support for President Muhammadu Buhari to run in 2019.”
The SGF, who was represented by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Political Matters, Gideon Sammani, said Buhari was widely known for his stance against corruption and indiscipline, noting that many people feared him because of his uncompromising position on graft.
Mustapha argued that it was the corrupt individuals that were against the President because they were apprehensive that they might be brought to book.
He added, “We all know that Buhari is transparent, honest. He has come with the change philosophy. He has lived for this long to bring change to this nation. Since his military days, he stood to fight corruption and indiscipline.
“Many people fear him because he does not compromise, and corrupt people are afraid that they will be brought to book. And those who have already looted the treasury of this nation are being probed by the security agencies. By the grace of God Buhari will not relent in this fight.
“He will continue; the politics of this nation is no more the politics of money or do-or-die. Anybody who wants to lead this nation must make sacrifices. Buhari has already transformed and changed the image of leadership and that of our leaders in this country, both locally and internationally,” the SGF noted.
The convener of the rally stated that his team was ready to work for Buhari’s re-election in 2019, adding that they were working with over 15 state governors to actualise the goal.
“We are calling on Buhari to come out and make a public statement to run in 2019.
“If this does not happen between now and Monday, we will be forced to go to court and invite him to come and make a public statement. Some of our leaders are misleading the youths in Nigeria that power should be given to the youths; we are not in a hurry,” Mohammed said.
Akinjide tells INEC to delist underage voters
A former Minister of State for the Federal Capital Territory, Jumoke Akinjide, has called on the Independent National Electoral Commission to remove the names of underage children who registered to vote in the northern part of the country.
Akinjide made the call on Thursday during the 2018 Peoples Democratic Party Youth summit, which was held in Ibadan, Oyo State.
The meeting, which had in attendance hundreds of youths from across the 351 wards of Oyo State, unanimously called on INEC to scrutinise the voter register and delete names of those who were not eligible to vote.
Akinjide, who commended the restiveness of Nigerian youths over the years, said, “When youths are involved in politics, they are on the right track to progress. Youths should make a difference. I want youths to make a success of their participation in politics. And the INEC should provide a fertile ground for democracy to thrive. INEC should take all reasonable steps for democracy to work in Nigeria. It should not only promise what is right, it must convincingly be seen as doing so.
“One of the surest ways to go about this is by disinfecting the system from its moral virus by disallowing underage voters or by stopping aliens from neighbouring countries from getting Permanent Voter Cards which, in most places, are not even accessible to eligible Nigerian voters.”
Present at the summit were a former Majority leader, House of Representatives, Mulikat Akande-Adeola; Senator Olufemi Lanlehin, a former Secretary to the Oyo State Government, Sharafadeen Abiodun Alli; and the PDP National Youth leader, Udeh Okoye, among others.
