President Bola Tinubu has signed into law the Electoral Act
2026 (Amendment) Bill.
The development follows the passage of the legislation by
the national assembly on Tuesday after months of debate, review and amendments
by both chambers.
The signing ceremony took place at the State House around
5:00 pm on Wednesday, with top national assembly leaders present.
Speaking shortly after signing the bill into law, Tinubu
commended the national assembly for the “solid brainstorming discussions” aimed
at strengthening national development and safeguarding democratic stability.
“The essence of democracy is to have very solid
brainstorming discussions committed to national development and nation
building, the stability of the nation,” he said.
The president noted that beyond the historical significance
of the legislation, the priority is ensuring that the electoral process is
managed in a way that prevents confusion or disenfranchisement.
“What is crucial is the fact that you manage the process to
the extent there will be no confusion, no disenfranchisement of Nigerians; and
we are all going to see democracy flourish,” he said.
Tinubu noted that confidence in the system must be rebuilt,
arguing that no electoral framework, however technologically advanced, can
function without human integrity.
“No matter how good a system is, it’s managed by the people,
promoted by the people, and result is finalised by the people,” he said.
“For final results, you are not going to be talking to the
computer. You are going to be talking to human beings who announce the
results.”
Addressing debates around real-time electronic transmission
of results, the president urged a realistic assessment of Nigeria’s
technological capacity, particularly broadband infrastructure.
“When you look at the crux of various agreements, maybe
Nigeria should question our broadband capability. How technically are we today?
How technically will we be tomorrow?” Tinubu asked.
He emphasised that the voting process itself remains
fundamentally manual, adding that voters will continue to appear in person at
polling units, receive ballot papers, thumbprint their preferred candidates and
cast their votes without interference.
Ballots, he added, are sorted and counted manually, with
only the arithmetic results entered into official forms.
“Essentially, the transmission of that manual result is what
we’re looking at, and we need to avoid glitches,” he said, warning against
unnecessary interference in an era of heightened digital scrutiny.
Expressing optimism about the country’s democratic future,
Tinubu said Nigeria would continue to nurture its democracy toward achieving
prosperity and stability.
“Nigeria will be there. We will flourish. We will continue
to nurture this democracy for the fulfilment of our dream for prosperity and
stability of our country,” he added.
KEY AMENDMENTS
The senate had reconvened for an emergency plenary on
Tuesday and rescinded its earlier passage of the bill to allow amendments
affecting the 2027 election timetable.
The lawmakers said the adjustment became necessary after
further review of the bill revealed that the 360-day notice requirement in
clause 28 could result in the scheduling of the 2027 presidential and national
assembly elections within the Ramadan period.
There had also been debates over the electronic transmission
of election results in the bill.
The senate had initially rejected compulsory real-time
electronic transmission of election results, triggering public outrage.
As a result, protesters stormed the national assembly
complex to demand live transmission.
Following a reconsideration of a controversial provision
during its February 10 plenary, the senate approved the electronic transmission
of election results to the Independent National Electoral Commission’s result
viewing portal (IReV), while allowing manual collation to serve as a fallback
where technology fails.
However, the provision stops short of mandating electronic
transmission and excludes real-time uploads of results.
Under the approved amendment, where electronic transmission
is disrupted by network or communication challenges, the manually completed
EC8A form will constitute the primary basis for collation and declaration of
results.
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