Abuja, Nigeria – President Bola Tinubu has signed the Electoral Act 2026 (Amendment) Bill into law, just days after the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) unveiled the timetable for the 2027 general elections in Nigeria.
Okay News reports that the signing ceremony took place at the State House in Abuja on Wednesday evening, with key members of the National Assembly in attendance. The amended bill was passed by lawmakers a day earlier, marking a swift legislative process amid heightened public interest in electoral reforms.
The latest amendment follows intense nationwide debate over the electronic transmission of election results. Civil society groups and opposition figures had staged protests at the National Assembly, demanding mandatory real-time upload of results directly from polling units to INEC’s central server. They argue that such a move would curb manipulation and improve transparency in Nigeria’s electoral process.
However, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and some stakeholders expressed concerns about the technical readiness of nationwide live transmission, particularly in rural communities with weak telecommunications infrastructure. They advocated a phased or hybrid system that would permit manual collation where electronic systems fail. Further details of the new law are expected to emerge in the coming days.
