The Senate has amended clause 28 of the Electoral Act (Repeal and Re-enactment) bill, 2026, reducing the notice period for general elections from 360 days to 300 days.
The amendment is aimed at preventing the 2027 presidential
and national assembly elections from coinciding with the Muslim holy month of
Ramadan.
The upper chamber rescinded its earlier passage of the bill
and recommitted it to the committee of the whole, following concerns that the
360-day requirement could compel the Independent National Electoral Commission
(INEC) to fix election dates within Ramadan.
Opeyemi Bamidele, senator representing Ekiti central and
senate leader, moved the motion for rescission under orders 1(b) and 52(6) of
the senate standing orders.
“Upon critical review of the passed bill, the 360-day notice
requirement prescribed in clause 28 could result in the scheduling of the 2027
presidential and national assembly elections during the Ramadan period,”
Bamidele said.
The senate adopted a revised clause 28, which provides that
“the commission shall, not later than 300 days before the day appointed for
holding of an election under this bill, publish a notice in each state of the
Federation and the Federal Capital Territory.
“Stating the date of the election and appointing the place
at which nomination papers are to be delivered.
“The notice shall be published in each constituency in
respect of which an election is to be held.”
Bamidele said holding elections during Ramadan “could
adversely affect voter turnout, logistical coordination, stakeholders’
participation, and the overall inclusiveness and credibility of the electoral
process.” ”.
The amendment followed consultations between the leadership
of the national assembly and INEC, which had earlier fixed February 20, 2027,
for the presidential and national assembly elections, and March 6, 2027, for
governorship and state assembly polls.
Simon Lalong, chairman of the senate committee on electoral
matters, said Joash Amupitan, INEC chairman, did not deliberately fix the dates
to clash with Ramadan.
“It was the immediate past INEC Chairman, Mahmood Yakubu,
that actually set the template for the election dates from 2019 to 2031,”
Lalong said.
The senate also retained a proviso in clause 60 allowing
manual transmission of election results where electronic transmission fails due
to network challenges.
Enyinnaya Abaribe, senator representing Abia south, raised a
point of order and called for a division on clause 60(3), objecting to the
proviso permitting manual transmission.
“This is democracy in action,” Senate President Godswill
Akpabio said, directing senators to “signify where they belong by standing up
and raising up their hands.
At the end of the vote, 55 senators voted in favour of
retaining the proviso, while 15 opposed it.
Akpabio said those who supported the proviso “had just saved
Nigeria’s democracy”.
With the decision, the senate reaffirmed that while
electronic transmission of results is permitted, the duly signed Form EC8A
shall serve as the primary source of results in the event of network failure.
The chamber subsequently passed the Electoral Act (repeal
and re-enactment) bill, 2026.
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