Breaking: Tinubu signs amended Electoral Act 2026 into law

President Bola Tinubu has signed the Electoral Act 2026 (Amendment) into law.

The president signed the bill on Wednesday, days after the Independent National Electoral Commission released the timetable for the 2027 general elections.

The signing took place at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, around 5:00 pm with principal officers of the National Assembly in attendance.

Recall that the National Assembly had on Tuesday passed the Electoral Act 2026 (Amendment) Bill.

The amendment comes amid intense public debate over the real-time transmission of election results.

Last week, protests rocked the National Assembly complex as civil society organisations and some opposition figures mounted sustained pressure on the National Assembly to mandate live transmission of results from polling units directly to INEC’s central server.

They argued that it would reduce the risk of result manipulation and enhance the credibility of the electoral process.

However, the ruling All Progressives Congress and some stakeholders have expressed concerns over the technical feasibility of real-time transmission in areas with poor telecommunications infrastructure, arguing for a phased or hybrid approach that allows manual collation where electronic systems fail.

During the 2023 elections, the failure of INEC’s Results Viewing Portal on election day triggered widespread allegations of rigging.

The 2027 general elections are scheduled to be held on February 20 for Presidential and National Assembly elections and March 6 for Governorship & State Houses of Assembly Elections.

Culled from vanguard