Nigeria’s President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has signed into law the Electoral Act, 2022 Repeal and Re-Enactment Bill 2026, marking a significant shift in the legal framework that will guide elections in Africa’s most populous country ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The legislation was transmitted to the President after it was passed on Tuesday, February 17, 2026, by Nigeria’s National Assembly, the country’s bicameral federal parliament made up of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The new law replaces the earlier Electoral Act of 2022 and follows months of legislative deliberations.
The bill has sparked intense public and political debate, particularly over how election results should be transmitted. Nigeria has faced recurring controversies over the credibility of election result collation, and the method of transmitting results has become a central issue in efforts to strengthen public trust in the electoral system.
In the Senate, the upper chamber of the National Assembly, proceedings became tense during consideration of Clause 60, which addresses the transmission of election results. Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, who represents Abia South Senatorial District in southeastern Nigeria under the platform of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, demanded a division on Clause 60(3). He sought the removal of a proviso that allows manual transmission of election results in the event of electronic transmission failure due to network issues.
The President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, initially stated that he believed the demand for division had earlier been withdrawn. However, several opposition senators objected. The Deputy Senate President, Barau Jibrin, cited Order 52(6) of the Senate Standing Orders, arguing that it would be out of order to revisit a provision on which the presiding officer had already ruled.
The exchange triggered loud protests in the chamber. At one point, Senator Sunday Karimi had a brief confrontation with Senator Abaribe. The Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, reminded colleagues that he had sponsored a motion for rescission, which nullified previous decisions taken on the bill and reopened the matter for reconsideration. He argued that, under that motion, Senator Abaribe’s demand was procedurally valid.
Senator Abaribe later rose under Order 72(1) to formally request a division on Clause 60(3). He argued that Form EC8A, the official polling unit result sheet used by Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission, should not serve as the sole basis where electronic transmission fails. He called for the deletion of the proviso that permits manual transmission in cases of network failure.
During the division, Senate President Akpabio directed senators who supported retaining the proviso to stand, followed by those opposed. Fifteen opposition senators stood against the caveat, while 55 senators voted in support of it. The proviso was therefore retained.
Earlier in the day, Senate proceedings had been temporarily stalled when lawmakers moved to rescind an earlier amendment and dissolve into a committee of the whole for clause by clause reconsideration of the bill. The session later went into a closed door meeting amid murmurs and consultations among lawmakers.
A similar disagreement unfolded in the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of Nigeria’s National Assembly. The Chairman of the House Committee on Rules and Business, Francis Waive, moved a motion to rescind the House’s earlier decision on the bill, which had included compulsory real time electronic transmission of election results.
When the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, put the motion to a voice vote, the “nays” appeared louder than the “ayes.” However, he ruled that the “ayes” had prevailed. This ruling prompted protests from several lawmakers, leading to an executive session.
When the House had earlier passed the bill in December 2025, it adopted compulsory real time transmission of election results to the Independent National Electoral Commission Result Viewing Portal, commonly known as IReV. The latest legislative action aligns the House’s position with that of the Senate regarding flexibility in cases of electronic transmission failure.
The signing of the bill by President Tinubu now sets the legal framework for the conduct of the 2027 general elections, a contest that will determine leadership at both federal and state levels across Nigeria. Okay News reports that debates over electronic transmission reflect broader concerns about electoral integrity in a country of more than 200 million people, where elections often shape political stability and investor confidence.
With the law now in force, attention is expected to shift to implementation by the Independent National Electoral Commission and possible judicial challenges by stakeholders who disagree with aspects of the amendments.
