Insight Nigeria records only 26.72% voter turnout in 2023 election

Out of the total 93.47 million registered voters, only 24.9 million persons voted in the just concluded presidential and National Assembly elections.

This represents a meagre 26.72 percent voter turnout, the lowest since the return to democracy in 1999.

Voter turnout here refers to the share of the total votes cast over the total number of registered voters. 

On February 25, Nigeria conducted its 7th general election. The result of the election, which was announced in the early hours of Wednesday by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), shows that only 24.9 million persons out of the 93.47 million registered voters voted in the election. This represents 26.72 percent voter turnout.

Compared to the voter turnout of 34.74 percent in the 2019 general election, the turnout in the just concluded election declined by 8.03 per cent.

Besides the low turnout, which has now become a trend in Nigeria’s recent elections, the turnout in the 2023 election was far from the 50 percent mark targeted by INEC for the election.

Among the 36 states, Adamawa and Jigawa were the only states that recorded up to 40 percent voter turnout. Plateau, Osun, and Gombe followed with 39.83 percent, 38.71 percent, and 33.87 percent, respectively.

The bottom five states with the lowest voter turnout include: Rivers, Bayelsa, Abia, Oyo, and Lagos states. 

 In the last two general elections, Lagos and Abia were also among the bottom five states with the lowest turnout.

Unlike in 2019 and 2015, where some states had over 50 percent voter turnout, no state in the just concluded election recorded such turnout. 

On a regional level, only the North-West and North-Central regions had up to 30 percent voter turnout. They are followed by the North-East with 28.63 percent. 

In 2019, the North-West and North-East had the highest voter turnout, which was over 40 percent. But in the 2023 election, no region recorded up to 40 percent voter turnout. 

Each of the three zones in southern Nigeria recorded less than 25 percent voter turnout in the 2023 general election. It is worth pointing out that the South-South region, which had the highest voter turnout in southern Nigeria in 2019, recorded the worst turnout in the 2023 election. 

However, there were cases of late arrival of INEC’s officials, thuggery, voter suppression and violence which could have led to low turnout.

A Port Harcourt-based voter, Kelechi Vera, said INEC materials arrived at 2pm in her polling unit, with officials leaving two hours later.

“Due to that, many people were disenfranchised for no fault of theirs. So, it is really difficult to assess voter turnout based on what happened on February 25. INEC’s late arrival at some units, incompetence, violence and suppression were all responsible for the recorded low turnout,” she said.

An political analyst, Taiwo Adejare, noted that Nigeria’s voter turnout could have been overstated in the past, noting that technology had exposed past flaws.

” No matter how poorly organised the recent presidential and National Assembly elections were, the truth is that tech has shown us that votes were probably inflated in several parts of the country. I am sure things will get better by next general elections,” he said.