How BBNaija voting and evictions work: a complete guide
BBNaija voting decides who stays in the Big Brother Naija house and who wins the grand prize. This guide covers how to register, how many free votes you get, how housemates end up facing eviction and how the finale works. It uses Africa Magic’s official Season 11 rules, current as of September 2026.
By Editorial Team
The short answer
- Who votes: viewers, not the housemates. Housemates only decide who is safe from eviction during Monday’s nominations.
- What you vote for: during the season you vote to save a housemate. In the final week, the vote picks the winner.
- Where: the Africa Magic website, its mobile site, and the MyDStv and MyGOtv apps.
- Cost: Africa Magic says voting is free on all three channels. Data charges still apply on the web.
- When: after Monday’s nominations until Thursday night, with evictions on the Sunday live show.
These rules come from Season 11, Show Ya Sef, which launched on 26 July 2026 with 24 housemates. Big Brother can change the format between seasons, so check the official guide at the start of each new edition.
How BBNaija voting works, step by step
Africa Magic’s official voting guide sets out the process:
- Register once. Go to africamagic.tv/bigbrother, click Vote, then Register. Enter your name, surname, year of birth, gender, location and a phone number in international format (for example +234…), then choose a password.
- Confirm your number. A one-time PIN arrives by SMS or WhatsApp.
- Log in and vote. Pick your housemate, type in the number of votes you want to cast, then press Vote.
- App voters register through the Big Brother card in the MyDStv or MyGOtv app. They also have to confirm their smartcard number.
The guide says voting opens every Monday at 9pm WAT after nominations and closes on Thursday at 10pm WAT. The weekly Africa Magic updates we read in Season 11 gave 9pm WAT on Thursday instead. The finale week ran on a separate timetable. The safest deadline is always the one in that week’s official post.
How many votes you get
Vote limits apply per person, per platform, per voting round. Unused votes do not roll over to the next round.
| Platform | Votes per round (Season 11) |
|---|---|
| Website | 100 |
| Mobile site | 100 |
| MyDStv / MyGOtv app | Depends on package (see below) |
| In-app games | Up to 200 extra |
Examples of package allowances in the guide:
- DStv: Premium 2,500; Compact Plus 1,500; Compact 750; Confam/Family 500; Yanga/Access 200.
- GOtv: Supa Plus 750; Supa 500; Max 350; Joli/Plus 200.
The app games offer up to five questions per game and two games per round. Each correct answer earns 20 votes, so you can win up to 100 votes per game and 200 per round.
How housemates end up up for eviction
Each week follows roughly the same pattern, although Big Brother adds twists regularly.
- Head of House (HoH): housemates compete in games, usually early in the week. The winner gets immunity and the HoH Loft. In Season 11 the HoH also held a “veto” power that could change the nomination result.
- Monday nominations: in Season 11, housemates nominated people to save. In Week 2, Africa Magic reported, each housemate named three people they wanted kept safe, and the tally saved five. Head of House Sheba then used her veto to swap one saved housemate for another.
- Other immunity: in some weeks the HoH runner-up, the Most Influential Player of the Week (MIPOW) and special twists such as “The Gambit” (Aikou and Flora in the early weeks) could also give housemates immunity.
- Everyone else is up: anyone left without immunity faces the public vote that week.
Viewers then vote to save the housemates who are up for eviction. The fewest “save” votes put a housemate at risk of eviction on Sunday. How many leave each week is up to Big Brother. Week 8 of Season 11 ended in a triple eviction, according to BellaNaija’s recap.
Twists that change the rules mid-season
Season 11 shows how far Big Brother will bend its own format:
- Team twist (Week 4): Africa Magic’s Day 22 report says the winning team was promised immunity. Then Head of House Abi was told in the Diary Room to put three names from her own team up for eviction.
- Ultimate Veto (Weeks 8 and 9): Barry won Head of House plus an Ultimate Veto Power. In Week 9 he secretly chose “Immunity For All”. That cancelled the vote and sent all ten remaining housemates to the final.
- Fake eviction (27 September): three housemates were “evicted” on the live show and then brought back.
- Prize fluctuation: the cash prize started at ₦100 million. Big Brother took ₦5 million off whenever the house fell short of his expectations, leaving ₦90 million.
We covered the finale set-up in detail in our Season 11 finale guide.
The finale: voting for a winner
In the last week, the vote stops being about saving someone and chooses the winner instead. For Season 11, Africa Magic said voting closes on Friday 2 October 2026 at 9pm WAT. The finale airs live on Sunday 4 October at 7pm WAT on Africa Magic Showcase and Africa Magic Family, with Ebuka Obi-Uchendu hosting. The housemates are streamed 24/7 on DStv channel 198 and GOtv channel 49.
The winner’s prize is advertised as “₦160 million worth of cash and prizes”, with the cash portion reduced to ₦90 million by the in-season deductions.
Common questions
- Is BBNaija voting free? Yes, on the website, mobile site and apps, according to the Season 11 guide. Your network still charges for data, and app votes are only for active subscribers on eligible packages.
- Can I vote on more than one platform? The limits are set “per voting platform per vote round”, so using the website, mobile site and app counts as separate allowances.
- Can housemates evict each other? Not directly in Season 11. They decide who is safe; viewers decide who stays.
- Do past seasons work the same way? Not always. Each season sets its own voting channels, allowances and twists, so check the current guide.
Some former housemates have gone on to film careers. Tobi Bakre, a Season 3 (2018) housemate, is in the cast of Behind the Scenes, now the highest-grossing Nigerian film. See our guide to the highest-grossing Nollywood films.
What to watch
Before each new season, look for Africa Magic’s updated voting guide. Check for changes to package allowances, voting windows and any new paid or SMS options, since those are what most often change between editions. For more reality TV and celebrity coverage, see our Nigerian Entertainment and Movies & TV sections.
Sources
- Africa Magic: How to vote, Big Brother Naija Season 11
- Africa Magic: Day 8, Sheba emerges as Head of House (nominations format)
- Africa Magic: Day 22, Abi becomes Head of House (team twist)
- Africa Magic: Day 57, Ultimate Veto “Immunity For All”
- Africa Magic: Day 64, finale voting deadline
- Africa Magic: Prize Money Fluctuation
- Africa Magic: Season 11 launch show
- BellaNaija: Season 11 Week 8 recap
- Nairametrics: Behind the Scenes cast and box office
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