The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, says nearly half of the eligible voters in Nigeria are youths.
The commission stated that the youths constitute the highest number of registered voters, who would vote in the February and March elections with 48 million out of the entire 93.5 million eligible voters.
The National Commissioner at INEC in charge of Information and Voter Education Committee, Mr. Festus Okoye, made the disclosure during the commission’s engagement with identified groups on the role of the youth ahead of the 2023 general election.
Okoye said from INEC’s records, the youth are in position to determine the outcome of the 2023 elections.
He said out of a total of 9,518,756 valid newly registered voters between June 28, 2021 and July 31, 2022, those aged between 18 and 34 years of age were 7,286,871, representing 76.56 per cent.
Okoye said the total of registered voters for the general election was 93.5 million, adding that, of the 84 million registered voters recorded for the 2019 general election, the youth population, which included males and females, was 51 per cent.
He urged the youths to ensure that they cast their votes on election day, emphasising that it is only when they do so that they would determine who would lead them.
Okoye stated that the electoral process would be strictly technology-driven, adding that the commission has already deployed technology in all its processes.