Nigeria’s revised electoral law still has flaws that could jeopardize the nation’s democratic process, according to political science professor and former electoral commissioner Okechukwu Ibeanu.
In his keynote speech at a Citizens’ Townhall, a policy discussion on electoral changes in Abuja, Ibeanu called on the populace to assume more responsibility for preserving democracy.
He claimed that Nigerians frequently have too much faith in laws as the only way to address election problems, but that relying too much on legal frameworks in the absence of institutional and civic reforms may not produce the intended results.
“Unfortunately, it took us discussing a proviso for the nation to agree that electronic transmission was in fact included in the 2022 act. I believe that there are still gaps and loopholes in the law.” However, what we’ve done is essentially transport us back to 2018, when those discussions took place in this nation.
“We constantly tamper with the election legislation as though it has all the solutions to our electoral issues. “But more importantly, we give politicians, the very people the law is supposed to regulate, the power to amend the Act,” he continued.
According to the professor, Nigeria’s electoral legislation has undergone numerous repeals and reenactments along with numerous revisions, a pattern he deemed detrimental to a stable democracy.
Ibeanu said that frequent changes run the risk of transforming reforms into instruments for political maneuvering rather than protections for the rights of voters, saying that “amendment and repeal of the law should be its medicine, not its daily bread.”
He continued by saying that ongoing legal amendments can result in clauses that are more intended to further political agendas than to safeguard voters’ rights.
Ibeanu also warned that the electoral commission’s overzealous regulatory control of political parties may become a “military regime spectre” if democratic values are not carefully balanced with it.
He emphasized civic duty and called on Nigerians to take an active role in protecting their votes and holding elected officials responsible. Citizens, you are the focus of this. Politicians and INEC have nothing to do with it.
Our ambition of a truly democratic nation will remain a pipe dream until voters are able to safeguard their ballots and exert control over those who purport to represent them,” he stated.
The political scientist also urged the electoral commission to produce more precise rules and recommendations to eliminate uncertainties and called for a thorough examination of certain sections of the election legislation, such as Sections 50, 60, and 62.
In advance of the general elections in 2027, President Bola Tinubu signed the Electoral Act 2026 into law on February 18, 2026, updating Nigeria’s electoral system.
Important features of the new law include: requiring results to be sent electronically to the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal; acknowledging the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS); establishing new deadlines for candidate nominations and election notices; updating procedures for party primaries; and releasing electoral commission funds earlier.
Opposition parties and civil society organizations have criticized parts of the bill, claiming that specific discretionary powers granted to electoral officials during technical problems could undermine accountability, despite the fact that the revisions are intended to increase openness.
