President Bola Tinubu on Wednesday assented to the Electoral Act 2026 (Amendment) Bill, formally turning it into law just days after the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) unveiled the timetable for the 2027 general elections.
The signing ceremony took place at the Presidential Villa in Abuja at about 5:00 p.m., with principal officers of the National Assembly in attendance. The National Assembly had passed the amendment bill on Tuesday, paving the way for presidential assent.
The new amendment has once again brought to the fore the contentious issue of electronic transmission of election results.
For years, civil society organisations and opposition figures have advocated real-time transmission of results directly from polling units to INEC’s central server. They argue that such a system would reduce manipulation, enhance transparency, and boost public confidence in Nigeria’s electoral process.
The debate intensified following the 2023 general elections, when the INEC Results Viewing Portal (IReV) experienced technical glitches, sparking widespread allegations of irregularities and rigging.
Just last week, protesters stormed the National Assembly complex, demanding that the amended law mandate compulsory live transmission of results to prevent a repeat of past controversies.
While the ruling All Progressives Congress has expressed support for the deployment of technology in elections, some stakeholders have cautioned against an all-electronic system. They maintain that communities with limited telecommunications infrastructure may require a phased or hybrid approach, allowing manual collation where electronic transmission proves impossible.
INEC has already fixed February 20, 2027, for the Presidential and National Assembly elections, while Governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections are scheduled for March 6, 2027.
With the amended Electoral Act now in force, attention is expected to shift to how effectively its provisions will be implemented ahead of the 2027 polls.
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