The Electoral Act 2026 (Amendment), which President Bola Tinubu signed into law on Wednesday, would guarantee that every Nigerian vote counts, according to Senate President Godswill Akpabio.
According to Akpabio, the new law does away with the long-standing issue of collation centers and polling stations manipulating results.
Akpabio told reporters shortly after the signing ceremony at the Presidential Villa in Abuja that the new law incorporates measures to improve the security and transparency of future elections while addressing the fundamental issues brought up by Nigerians over the integrity of the electoral process.
Future elections will ultimately be very beneficial to Nigerians. The Senate President declared that all votes will now be counted.
He pointed out that the change will acknowledge electronic results transmission for the first time since Nigeria gained its independence in 1960.
Following numerous claims of result manipulation during the general elections in 2023, Akpabio clarified that the amended Act requires the electronic transmission of polling unit results to the INEC Result Viewing Portal, a crucial demand made by opposition parties, civil society organizations, and election observers.
He said, though, that the law also included places with inadequate telecommunications infrastructure, guaranteeing that the EC8A forms, which are signed by polling station security staff, party agents, and presiding officers, will continue to be the major source of results.
We paid attention to places where there might not be a network, where there might not be availability or communication capabilities.
We stated that copies are distributed to everyone since the polling unit results are obtained via EC8A, which is signed by the presiding officer, the agents, and security personnel.
“At that unit, we can use that as the main source of collation,” he stated.
“And then, of course, we transmit it,” Akpabio continued. People will still be able to view it even if there is no network at the moment since it will drop into the iREV as we leave, perhaps heading toward the ward center or the local government center.
Nigerians would now be able to compare results posted to the portal with those ultimately compiled at the ward, local government, and state levels, the Senate President stated, making it impossible for results to be manipulated with after leaving polling places.
This implies that Nigerians will be able to compare if the election results were manipulated if the final results at the next center differ from those in the iREV.
And for us, the issue in the nation has always been that election results are tampered with or disfigured once they leave a voting station. Today, that has been removed,” he declared.
Insisting that the final provisions of the amendment were the result of extensive consultations and deliberations in plenary sessions of both houses, the Senate President rejected claims that the National Assembly had given in to political pressure.
He added that the Senate had given up its holiday break to finish the amendment, saying, “We are satisfied that we have met the aspiration of Nigerians, not those who are politically motivated.”
The establishment of direct primaries for political parties, which will enable party members to vote directly for candidates of their choosing instead of depending on delegate selection, is one of the other elements in the new law that Akpabio emphasized.
“Participatory democracy and greater inclusivity.” Direct primaries are now open to members of many political parties.
This implies that you are free to select the person of your choice. Naturally, a single person can compose the list and submit it, but this time, the political party members will take a stand and cast their votes for their own candidates as well as those of their choice,” he stated.
According to the Senate President, the amendment also tackles situations in which judges disqualify election winners. He pointed out that the legislation now requires new elections rather than naming the runner-up as the winner in order to guarantee that Nigerians actually choose their leaders.
“We don’t want an election where five candidates run, one of whom receives 300,000 votes, another 290,000, and then the court disqualifies him for some reason. Then the person who received 1,000 votes, who isn’t elected by the majority, will be declared the winner.
“All of those items have been removed. We have now suggested that they call for another election in cases like these,” he said.
According to him, the same rule now governs gubernatorial elections, meaning that even if a candidate receives the second-highest number of votes, they cannot be proclaimed the victor if they do not receive at least 25% of the votes in two-thirds of local government districts.
Abbas Tajudeen, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, called attention to the election notice time being shortened from 360 days to 300 days when speaking to reporters.
This may unintentionally result in the presidential and National Assembly elections taking place in January 2027, which will technically prevent elections from taking place during 2027’s Ramadan.
The Speaker stated, “I believe this is another clever move by the National Assembly to prevent voter disinterest in the upcoming general election.”
Days after INEC published the schedule for the general elections in 2027, the Electoral Act 2026 (Amendment) was released.
After INEC’s Result Viewing Portal failed on the day of the 2023 elections, leading to accusations of election tampering, the 2022 Electoral Act was criticized.Our correspondent noted that at a signing ceremony held at the Presidential Villa in Abuja at approximately 5:00 p.m., with the senior officers of the National Assembly present, Tinubu gave his assent to the Electoral Act 2026 (Amendment).
The general elections for the presidency and national assembly are set for February 20 of 2027, while the elections for governorship and state houses of assembly are set for March 6.
