The distribution of registered voters offers a clearer picture of where Nigeria’s electorate is concentrated ahead of the 2027 General Elections. Between 2023 and 2027, the states with the largest voter populations have remained largely the same, even as the rankings have shifted. Lagos, Kano and Kaduna retain the top three positions, while Katsina has moved ahead of Rivers. Ogun has also entered the top 10, replacing Plateau, which ranked eighth in 2023. The comparison shows where the country’s largest voter populations are concentrated and how that pattern is changing ahead of 2027. Follow the 2027 General Elections at elections.dataphyte.com

Not every attempt to influence public opinion is obvious. Sometimes, it works by attaching itself to frustrations and vulnerabilities people already have. In this highlight from Episode 4 of Dataphyte’s Election Dialogue Series, @Silas2Silas of @CJIDAfrica's DAIDAC explains how external actors can use information technology to influence how people think, often in ways citizens may not immediately recognise. Watch the full episode, 2027 General Elections: What are the Foreign Interests? Watch now on YouTube: youtu.be/EnNoup2n0T4 Listen on Spotify: bit.ly/4yqDy6m

Nigeria’s voter register has continued to expand, but voter turnout has moved in the opposite direction. Turnout peaked at 69.08% in 2003. Since then, it has declined in every presidential election, falling to 26.72% in 2023, less than half the 2003 level. Ahead of the 2027 General Elections, PVC collection has begun, with Nigeria’s voter register now above 103 million. Yet the gap between registration and actual participation remains significant. Higher registration will only translate into broader electoral participation if more registered voters turn out on election day.

Preparing for an election is no longer only about ballots, logistics and technology. It is also about the information environment around the process. In this highlight from Episode 4 of Dataphyte’s Election Dialogue Series, @Silas2Silas of @CJIDAfrica's DAIDAC says INEC needs to recognise the growing challenge of anti-democratic narratives online and build the internal capacity to identify and respond to them. What should that response look like ahead of 2027, and how prepared are Nigeria’s institutions for this new information challenge? Watch the full episode: 2027 General Elections: What are the Foreign Interests? Watch now on YouTube: youtu.be/EnNoup2n0T4 Listen on Spotify: bit.ly/4yqDy6m

Earlier in the week, Dataphyte Foundation in partnership with Christian Aid launched a Regional Advocacy and Policy Influencing project to strengthen women economic justice in West and Central Africa. The project titled “Mobilising Data for Economic Justice Advocacy and Reforms in West and Central Africa,” commenced with an inception meeting and aimed at gathering credible and comparable evidence grounded in women’s lived experience and citizen-generated data to strengthen regional policy advocacy and influencing and empower civic networks to advance women economic justice advocacy across Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Burkina Faso, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Read more on our latest blog post: bit.ly/4BadcIs

Before Nigerians cast a ballot in 2027, they will already have seen countless narratives about the election. But who is pushing those narratives, and what do they stand to gain? Episode 4 of Dataphyte Election Dialogue Series is out now. @Silas2Silas of @CJIDAfrica's DAIDAC discusses foreign interests in Nigeria’s 2027 General Elections, how coordinated narratives can influence public trust and participation, and why voter apathy can begin long before election day. 2027 General Elections: What are the Foreign Interests? If you want to better understand the information environment Nigeria is heading into before 2027, this episode is worth your time. Watch now on YouTube: youtu.be/EnNoup2n0T4 Listen on Spotify: bit.ly/4yqDy6m

Journalists also have a role in helping people understand what democracy offers. In this clip from Episode 4 of Dataphyte’s Election Dialogue Series, @Silas2Silas of @CJIDAfrica's DAIDAC explains how journalists can use radio, television and written reporting to help people understand the difference between democratic and authoritarian systems. 2027 General Elections: What are the Foreign Interests? Episode 4 drops tomorrow, 15 October 2026, at 12 noon. Watch on YouTube and listen on YouTube Music and Spotify.

Foreign influence in an election may not always be obvious. It can show up in the information people receive, the narratives they repeatedly encounter, and the doubts that begin to form around the process. In Episode 4 of Dataphyte Election Dialogue Series, @Silas2Silas of @CJIDAfrica's DAIDAC discusses the foreign interests around Nigeria’s 2027 General Elections, how they can affect the information environment, and what that could mean for public trust and participation. 2027 General Elections: What are the Foreign Interests? Episode 4 drops tomorrow, 15 October 2026, at 12 PM. Watch or listen on YouTube, YouTube Music and Spotify.

If votes were truly futile, why would politicians buy them? In this preview from Episode 4 of Dataphyte Election Dialogue Series, @Silas2Silas of @CJIDAfrica's DAIDAC discusses how people’s lived realities can influence the way they see democracy and political participation. He points to the danger of narratives that tell people there is no reason to vote, especially when those messages reinforce frustrations they already feel about insecurity, governance and their everyday lives. 2027 General Elections: What are the Foreign Interests? Episode 4 is coming soon.

For millions of girls in Nigeria, marriage still comes before adulthood. Nigeria has an estimated 22 million girls married before adulthood, the highest number in Sub-Saharan Africa. In 2024, 33.4% of women aged 20-24 had married before age 18, and in four northern states (Jigawa, Zamfara, Sokoto and Katsina) the rate exceeded 60%. The numbers show how poverty, access to education and the enforcement of protections for girls continue to affect who gets to complete childhood before marriage. This International Day of the Girl Child, the message is urgent: end child marriage and invest in girls’ rights. This means enforcing protections, keeping girls in school and addressing the poverty and social pressures that continue to push girls into early marriage.

What voters see and read online can fuel voter apathy and discourage them from participating in an election. In this preview from Episode 4 of Dataphyte’s Election Dialogue Series, @Silas2Silas discusses what he describes as the deliberate orchestration of voter apathy through online narratives around rigging, violence and predetermined election outcomes. He explains how repeated exposure to these messages can make people lose confidence in the process before they even get to the polls. 2027 General Elections: What are the Foreign Interests? Episode 4 is coming soon. #DataphyteElectionDialogueSeries

Joining us on Episode 4 of Dataphyte’s Election Dialogue Series is @Silas2Silas, Digital Investigation Manager at @CJIDAfrica's Digital Technology, Artificial Intelligence, and Information Disorder Analysis Centre. Silas is an award-winning journalist and digital investigator whose work covers media research, open-source intelligence, disinformation and foreign influence operations. At DAIDAC, he leads investigations into coordinated influence campaigns and foreign information manipulation across Africa. He brings that background to our discussion on the foreign interests around Nigeria’s 2027 General Elections and how they could influence the information voters see and trust. 2027 General Elections: What are the Foreign Interests? Episode 4 is coming soon. #DataphyteElectionDialogueSeries

When women cannot access enough specialists, functioning treatment facilities and affordable care, breast cancer survival becomes a governance issue. In 2024, Nigeria had an estimated 44,196 new breast cancer cases, accounting for 49.3% of all new cancer cases among women. Against this burden, Nigeria’s national cancer-control assessment reported 15 functional radiotherapy units and 74 practising clinical oncologists, against an estimated need for more than 120 radiation machines and about 250 radiation oncologists. Cost is another part of the governance challenge. Radiotherapy alone was estimated at ₦300,000–₦600,000 in public centres, putting treatment beyond easy reach for many women and families. These gaps affect more than access. They can determine how quickly a woman receives treatment, how far she must travel for specialist care, and whether she can afford treatment. WHO’s message this Breast Cancer Awareness Month is clear: lives can be saved, but countries must act. For Nigeria, that means ensuring that breast cancer care is backed by adequate funding, specialists, treatment infrastructure and affordable access to care. Sources: GLOBOCAN 2024; Nigeria imPACT Review Report, 2025; WHO, 2026.

Nigeria’s 2027 elections will not be shaped only by what happens inside the country. With global competition for political, economic and strategic influence growing, foreign actors can also seek to shape the information environment around elections. In Episode 4 of Dataphyte’s Election Dialogue Series, @Silas2Silas, Digital Investigation Manager at CJID’s DAIDAC, looks at how foreign actors can influence election narratives, public opinion and trust through the information space. 2027 General Elections: What are the Foreign Interests? Episode 4 is coming soon.

Trust in an election is built long before results are announced. For @DCynthiaM, one of the major tests ahead of Nigeria’s 2027 General Elections will be how INEC demonstrates its independence through its decisions, responses and conduct throughout the electoral process. In Episode 3 of Dataphyte’s Election Dialogue Series, she speaks about the relationship between institutional independence, public confidence and the credibility of elections and what Nigerians should be paying attention to before 2027. Episode 3, 2027 General Elections: Is Nigeria Ready?, is available now. Watch now on YouTube: youtu.be/qtI0Uaj4yQc Listen on Spotify: bit.ly/4rEwhxY