By Deborah Nnamdi
President Bola Tinubu has signed the 2026 Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill into law, formally repealing the Electoral Act 2022 and establishing a new legal framework to guide Nigeria’s elections ahead of the 2027 general polls.
The President assented to the legislation on Wednesday at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, around 5:00 p.m., in the presence of Senate President Godswill Akpabio and Speaker of the House of Representatives Tajudeen Abbas, alongside other principal officers of the National Assembly.
The signing came days after the National Assembly harmonised and passed the amended bill on Tuesday, following deliberations that drew opposition from minority lawmakers.
With presidential assent secured, the new law re-enacts the Electoral Act 2026 and introduces fresh provisions aimed at strengthening Nigeria’s electoral system and addressing contentious issues ahead of the next general election cycle.
The amendment follows intense public debate over the real-time transmission of election results. Last week, protests erupted at the National Assembly complex as civil society organisations and some opposition figures mounted pressure on lawmakers to mandate live transmission of results from polling units directly to the central server of the Independent National Electoral Commission.
Advocates of electronic transmission argue that it would curb result manipulation and enhance transparency in the electoral process. However, the ruling All Progressives Congress and some stakeholders have raised concerns about the technical feasibility of real-time transmission in areas with limited telecommunications infrastructure, calling instead for a phased or hybrid approach that allows manual collation where electronic systems fail.
The debate over result transmission intensified after challenges with INEC’s Results Viewing Portal during the 2023 general elections sparked widespread allegations of irregularities.
The enactment of the new law comes days after INEC released the timetable for the 2027 general elections, scheduled for February 20 for Presidential and National Assembly polls, and March 6 for Governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections.
The development marks a significant milestone in Nigeria’s ongoing electoral reform efforts as political stakeholders gear up for the next general election cycle.
