The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has explained why young people account for a smaller share of Nigeria’s registered voters ahead of the 2027 general elections than they did in 2023.
INEC Chairman, Professor Joash Amupitan, said the decline was largely due to the ageing of people who were classified as youths during the 2023 general elections, rather than a loss of interest in electoral participation.
Amupitan gave the explanation on Tuesday during the grand finale of the INEC Campus Debate held at the Law Theatre of the University of Abuja.
According to him, youths currently account for 29.79 per cent of the voter register being prepared for the 2027 elections, compared with 39.65 per cent in 2023.
He said many people who fell within the youth age bracket in 2023 had since moved into older age categories, accounting for the change in their share of registered voters.
“Some questions have been asked, why has the number reduced compared to what we have in 2023? But the truth of the matter is that there has been progressive migration of the categories of persons that were youth in 2023, they have now migrated into different age groups,” Amupitan explained.
The INEC chairman said the current register was still undergoing review through the claims and objections process.
The 2023 voter register contained 37,060,399 young people aged between 18 and 34, representing 39.65 per cent of the 93.4 million registered voters.
Amupitan said the campus debate was part of the commission’s efforts to address voter apathy and improve young Nigerians’ understanding of the electoral process.
“Our plan is to catch them young,” he said, recalling an earlier engagement where some participants could not identify the INEC chairman.
The debate, held under the theme, “Nigeria’s Electoral Process and Democracy”, ended with the University of Jos emerging winner. Bayero University, Kano, came second, the University of Ibadan placed third, while the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, finished fourth.
Amupitan, an alumnus of the University of Jos, commended the quality of the presentations and said the judges took considerable time to calculate the scores to ensure an accurate result.
He joked that the outcome was so clear that none of the participating universities should consider challenging it in court.
The chairman also directed INEC’s Director of Voter Education and Publicity to maintain contact with the finalists, saying he would have offered them automatic employment if the law permitted.
“They are not qualified to have been given automatic employment, if not I will have done that by now,” he said, explaining that they would first need to graduate and complete the National Youth Service Corps programme.
Amupitan also highlighted the commission’s recent electoral activities, saying it had conducted four off-cycle elections since he assumed office. They include the Anambra governorship election, Federal Capital Territory area council elections, Ekiti governorship election and Osun governorship election.
He said the Anambra and Osun elections, which had previously been inconclusive in earlier cycles, were concluded under his leadership.
On women’s participation in politics, he said INEC had a gender and inclusivity department but noted that Nigeria was yet to introduce legislation guaranteeing equal representation of women in political offices.
The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Abuja, Professor Hakeem Babatunde Fawehinmi, urged young Nigerians to obtain their Permanent Voter Cards, participate in elections and hold elected leaders accountable.
He commended INEC for organising the debate, saying it would help young people understand how to manage disagreements peacefully.
“It can be argued that debate is the opposite of violence,” he said.
