Godswill Akpabio, the Senate President, has stated that every Nigerian vote will count thanks to the Electoral Act 2026 (Amendment), which President Bola Tinubu signed into law on Wednesday.
The long-standing issue of result manipulation between polling places and collation centers is resolved by the new law, according to Akpabio.
Shortly following the signing ceremony at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, Akpabio told reporters that the new law incorporates measures to improve the security and transparency of future elections while addressing the fundamental issues brought up by Nigerians regarding the democratic process.
Nigerians will ultimately gain a great deal from upcoming elections. The president of the Senate said that all votes would now count.
Nigeria’s election regulations would now accept electronic results transmission for the first time since the country’s independence in 1960, he said.
Akpabio clarified that the amended Act requires the electronic transmission of polling unit results to the INEC Result Viewing Portal, which was a major request made by opposition parties, civil society organizations, and election observers in the wake of numerous claims of result manipulation in the general elections of 2023.
To ensure that the EC8A forms signed by presiding officers, party agents, and polling station security staff continue to be the major source of results, he added the law also considered places with inadequate telecommunications infrastructure.
We considered regions that might not have a network, as well as those that would not have the availability and capacity for communication.
As the polling unit results are obtained from EC8A, which is signed by the presiding officer, the agents, and security personnel, we stated that copies are sent to everyone.
He stated that “at that unit, we can use that as the primary source of collation.”
Akpabio went on, “We transmit it after that, of course. When we leave, perhaps go to the ward center or the local government center, it will drop into the iREV and viewers will still be able to see it, even if there is no network at that moment.
It will be difficult for results to be tampered with after leaving polling places, the Senate President stated, adding that Nigerians will now be able to compare results submitted to the platform with those that are ultimately compiled at the ward, local government, and state levels.
That implies that Nigerians would be able to compare whether the election results were altered with if the final count at the next center differs from the iREV.
And that has always been the issue in the nation, in our opinion, that election results are tampered with or disfigured after they leave a voting station. He declared, “That has been eliminated today.”
Rejecting claims that the National Assembly had given in to political pressure, the Senate President maintained that the amendment’s final elements were the result of extensive consultations and discussions in both houses’ plenary sessions.
In order to complete the amendment, the Senate even gave up its holiday vacation, he added. “We are satisfied that we have met the aspiration of Nigerians, not those who are politically motivated…”
Other features of the new law that Akpabio emphasized were the establishment of direct primaries for political parties, which will enable party members to cast their votes directly for the candidates of their choosing instead of depending on delegate selection.
Democracy that involves participation and greater inclusivity. It is now permitted for members of several political parties to participate in direct primaries.
You are therefore free to select the individual of your choice. When it comes to delegate selection, one individual can obviously prepare the list and then submit it, but this time, the political party members will raise their hands and cast their votes for their own candidates as well as those of their choosing,” he stated.
“The amendment also addresses situations where election winners are disqualified by courts,” the Senate President stated, adding that the legislation now requires fresh elections to ensure that Nigerians actually pick their leaders, rather than announcing the runner-up as the winner.
We do not want a scenario in which five candidates run in an election, 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 is not the popular choice, will be proclaimed the winner.
“Everything that was mentioned is gone. Now, we have suggested that they convene another election in such a situation,” he stated.
Although they received the second-highest number of votes, he pointed out that the same principle now applies to governorship elections, where candidates cannot be proclaimed winners if they do not receive 25% of the vote in at least two-thirds of local government districts, as required by the constitution.
Speaking to reporters, House of Representatives Speaker Abbas Tajudeen highlighted the election notice period’s reduction from 360 to 300 days.
As a result, the presidential and National Assembly elections will unintentionally be held in January 2027, which will technically prevent elections from taking place during Ramadan in 2027.
“I believe that the National Assembly has implemented this innovative measure to prevent voter indifference in the upcoming general election,” the Speaker stated.
Within days of INEC releasing the schedule for the general elections in 2027, the Electoral Act 2026 (Amendment) was implemented.
The failure of INEC’s Result Viewing Portal on the day of the 2023 elections, which led to accusations of cheating, prompted criticism of the 2022 Electoral Act.Our correspondent noted that at approximately 5:00 p.m., Tinubu gave his blessing to the Electoral Act 2026 (Amendment) during a signing ceremony held at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, with the chief officials of the National Assembly present.
The general elections for the 2027 presidential and national assembly elections are set for February 20 and the gubernatorial and state house of assembly elections for March 6.
