By Nchetachi Chukwuajah
Leaders of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) have rejected the Electoral Act 2026 signed into law by President Bola Tinubu and called on the National Assembly to begin a fresh amendment process.
The opposition party leaders stated this at a press conference in Abuja on Thursday, February 26.
Speaking on behalf of the parties, the NNPP National Chairman, Ajuji Ahmed, urged lawmakers to expunge all objectionable provisions contained in the Act.
Ahmed said opposition leaders view certain provisions of the Electoral Act 2026 as an alleged deliberate move by the All Progressives Congress-led administration to undermine the will of the people ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Among the provisions the parties’ leaders want expunged from the Electoral Act 2026 is the one that restricts parties to direct primaries and consensus options.
Under the Electoral Act 2022, political parties were permitted to nominate candidates through direct primaries involving all registered members, indirect primaries conducted by delegates, or consensus arrangements reached by party leaders.
Also, the Electoral Act 2026 shortens campaign periods and timelines for primaries, and funding for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) will now be released six months before an election, down from 12 months.
Ahmed noted that some of the provisions of the new law, including those that allow undefined discretionary powers to presiding officers, were undemocratic and would undermine electoral transparency if implemented.
He said, “We therefore state unequivocally that the new Electoral Act is anti-democratic, and its implementation will undermine electoral transparency and the sanctity of the ballot, which are fundamental to free, fair and credible elections and the bedrock of participatory democracy.
“The introduction of the proviso in Section 60(3), which allows wide and undefined discretionary powers to the presiding officer, overrides and negates the purpose of introducing electronic transmission of election results from polling units.
“This negation is unambiguously intended to provide a blank cheque to those who seek to manipulate election results by delaying the electronic transmission of results from the polling units to the IReV on the pretext of network failure.
“The premise of the proviso in Section 60(3) is the unavailability or possibility of network failure. We find this premise dubious and inconsistent with reality.
“The immediate past INEC Chairman, Professor Mahmud Yakubu, stated on record that the BVAS equipment, which operates offline, had worked with over a 90 per cent success rate across the nation, and in the event of network failure at the point of transmission, the transmitted results would be delivered successfully whenever the network becomes available.
“This position has been further confirmed most recently by a former INEC Commissioner, Festus Okoye, as widely reported, that every polling unit in Nigeria has internet access.
“Indeed, these statements by those who have been in a position to know provide a counterfactual to the lies that are being fed to the Nigerian people by a government that has lost respect for reason and reality.”
Ahmed added that with the progress recorded in network coverage, internet subscription, and internet banking, the country has all it takes to conduct electronic voting, contrary to the position of the National Assembly.
The opposition leaders said the amendment to Section 84 of the Act, which restricts political parties to direct primaries and consensus in selecting candidates, amounts to an encroachment on the constitutionally guaranteed autonomy of parties in managing their internal affairs.
They further argued that the National Assembly cannot rely on Section 228(b) of the Constitution as a basis to limit political parties to only two methods of nomination.
Ahmed said, “There is nothing undemocratic about indirect primaries, which create an electoral college for the selection of candidates in an objective, transparent, and orderly manner.
“Our position, therefore, is that as political parties, we do not need legislation that prescribes which mode of party primaries political parties must adopt. In other words, the mode of nominating candidates should be strictly the internal affair of political parties.”
Opposition leaders in attendance included the National Chairman of the ADC, David Mark; NNPP chieftain, Buba Galadima; former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar; and the 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi.
Others included the ADC National Secretary, Rauf Aregbesola; former Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi; and the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, among other stakeholders.
