Opposition parties and civil society organisations (CSOs) were thrown into shock on Wednesday after President Bola Tinubu signed the amended Electoral Act, barely 24 hours after its passage by the National Assembly, despite widespread protests and calls for restraint ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP) had earlier urged the President to withhold assent to the Electoral Act 2026 (Amendment) Bill, warning that certain provisions could undermine electoral transparency. Central to the concern is a clause permitting Presiding Officers to rely on Form EC8A for result collation in cases of alleged network failure that prevent electronic transmission of results.
In a statement issued after consultations with political stakeholders, CSOs, election observers and constitutional experts, the CNPP argued that the amendment lacks a clear, transparent and verifiable framework for determining genuine network failure. According to the coalition, leaving such determinations solely to polling officials creates loopholes that could be exploited for electoral manipulation.
The group stressed that the bill fails to provide independent or technological verification mechanisms to confirm network outages at polling units. It warned that contradictions between claims of network failure by officials and real-time network access available to citizens could breed distrust, confrontation and potential breakdown of law and order, while also exposing officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to public hostility.
The CNPP noted that Nigeria has made gradual progress in improving electoral credibility through digital accreditation and electronic transmission of results, cautioning that the amendment risks reversing those gains by reopening pathways for manual collation without strict oversight.
Despite these objections, President Tinubu signed the bill at the State House around 5pm, with top National Assembly leaders in attendance. Lawmakers had fast-tracked the bill’s passage a day earlier, shortly after INEC unveiled its 2027 election roadmap.
Protests had intensified last week as CSOs and opposition figures demanded mandatory real-time electronic transmission of results, which they argue is critical to curbing vote rigging. While activists insist technology will strengthen electoral trust, leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) maintain that poor network coverage in rural areas necessitates a hybrid system combining electronic and manual processes.
As of Wednesday evening, some CSOs, including ActionAid and Yiaga Africa, had expressed surprise at the President’s decision, while reactions from key opposition politicians were still being awaited.
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