Yiaga Africa Queries Youth Decline On Voter’s Register

The latest voter registration figures launched by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has raised necessary questions in regards to the declining variety of younger individuals on Nigeria’s voter register, Yiaga Africa mentioned.

Executive Director of Yiaga Africa, Samson Itodo questioned the phenomenon in a chunk titled: “Were Young People Removed from Nigeria’s Voter Register?”

“According to INEC, Nigeria had 93,469,008 registered voters in 2023, distributed across four age categories: Youth: 18–34 years: 37,060,399 (39.6%);
•Middle age: 35–49 years: 33,413,591 (35.8%); Elderly: 50–69 years: 17,700,270 (18.9%), 70 years and above: 5,294,748 (5.7%),” he acknowledged.

Itodo noticed that the 2026 figures present that the voter register has elevated to 103,428,715 registered voters, representing a rise of 9,959,707 voters, representing 10.66% in contrast with 11.27% improve recorded in 2023.

“The 2026 age distribution is as follows: Youth: 18–34 years: 29,777,578 (28.79%); Middle age: 35–49 years: 43,265,946 (41.83%); Elderly: 50–69 years: 22,982,900 (22.22%); 70 years and above: 7,402,291 (7.16%).

“What do these figures inform us?
While the general voter register determine for 2026 elevated by 10.66%, the variety of registered voters aged 18–34 declined by 7,282,821, representing a 19.65% discount on this age class. Their share of the register additionally declined from 39.6% in 2023 to twenty-eight.79% in 2026, a lower of roughly 10.9 proportion factors.

“The number of registered voters aged 35–49 increased by 9,852,355, representing an increase of approximately 29.5%.
Does this mean young people were removed from the register? Not necessarily,” he famous.

Itodo mentioned between 2023 and 2026, three years elapsed, therefore voters who have been aged 32, 33, and 34 in 2023 would have transitioned into the 35–49 age class by 2026.

“This demographic shift might partially clarify the decline within the youth class and the rise within the older age class. However, ageing alone doesn’t totally account for these adjustments.

“It can also be obligatory to look at new additions to the register, significantly the speed of youth registration, and any administrative changes.

“This raises a crucial query: Are younger Nigerians registering to vote at a price enough to switch those that are ageing out of the youth class?

“For historic perspective, Nigeria’s voter register elevated from 68,833,476 in 2015 to 84,004,084 in 2019, representing a 22.04% improve.
Between 2019 and 2023, the register grew to 93,469,008, a rise of 9,464,924 voters (11.27%). By 2026, it had risen additional to 103,428,715, representing an extra 9,959,707 voters (10.66%).

“Although absolutely the improve between 2023 and 2026 was barely greater than that recorded between 2019 and 2023, the share progress was marginally decrease. These figures display a declining price of progress in Nigeria’s voter register: 22.04% in 2015–2019, 11.27% in 2019–2023, and 10.66% in 2023–2026. The most up-to-date interval, nevertheless, covers three years moderately than 4.

“The critical issue, therefore, is not simply whether the voter register is growing, but who is entering the register, how voters are transitioning between age categories, and what these demographic changes mean,” he added.

Itodo referred to as on INEC to publish an in depth age-cohort evaluation explaining adjustments between the 2015, 2019, 2023 and 2026 registers, together with new registrations, age transitions, removing of useless and unqualified individuals on the register and different changes.

He mentioned: “if the decline shows inadequate registration among newly eligible young voters, it must prompt increased investment in youth mobilization for voter registration. If it reflects administrative adjustments, those changes must be clearly documented and explained.”