The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has announced plans to carry out a third phase of the continuous voter registration (CVR) exercise from May 11 to June 10, 2026.
Mohammed Haruna, INEC national commissioner and chairman of the information and voter education committee, who made this known on Tuesday said the dates was due to an adjustment in the timelines of the major electoral activities.
According to him, “the final register has to be ready for INEC to distribute to the political parties 90 days before the general election. We would need enough time to integrate the new registrants with the old,” he said.
According to the INEC’s timetable for the registration and display of the voter register, the third phase of the exercise was initially scheduled to begin on May 4, 2026.
INEC commenced the first phase of the CVR on August 18, 2025, with online pre-registration, followed by in-person registration on August 25.
At the end of the first phase on December 10, 2025, the commission recorded 2,572,054 completed registrations nationwide, comprising 1,503,832 online and 1,068,222 physicals.
The second phase began on January 5 and ended on April 17, with 3,748,704 completed registrations across the country.
The interval between the phases is used to carry out statutory activities required by law, including the display of the voter register for claims and objections.
INEC had revised the timetable and schedule of activities for the 2027 general election following adjustments to statutory timelines governing pre-election and electoral activities introduced in the Electoral Act, 2026.