President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has signed the Electoral Act, 2022 (Repeal and Re-Enactment) Bill 2026 into law, following its passage by the National Assembly after intense debate and public scrutiny.
The bill’s enactment comes amid ongoing protests and political tension across the country, with civil society groups, opposition leaders and activists expressing strong objections to several of its provisions — particularly those related to the electronic transmission of election results.
At the heart of the controversy is Clause 60(3) — the section of the bill that regulates how results from polling units are transmitted to collation centres. Lawmakers engaged in heated debates over the clause in both legislative chambers, with opposition figures demanding a mandatory real-time electronic transmission of results to ensure transparency.
During deliberations in the National Assembly, lawmakers rejected efforts to remove the fallback provision allowing manual result collation when electronic transmission fails due to network issues. In a Senate vote, 55 senators supported keeping the provision, while 15 opposed it, underscoring sharp divisions over the issue.
The legislative process was marked by procedural disputes and passionate arguments on the Senate floor, with prominent lawmakers challenging each other over parliamentary rules and interpretations before ultimately passing the amended bill.
In the House of Representatives, opposition members protested and staged a walkout when leadership upheld the combined electronic-and-manual transmission provision, generating public uproar and accusations of bias.
Civil society organisations and activists, including former political figures, have taken their grievances to the streets in and around Abuja. Protests organised under banners such as Occupy National Assembly have drawn participants calling for stronger electoral reforms and the reinstatement of compulsory real-time electronic results transmission.
Critics argue that allowing manual collation as a fallback could weaken transparency and create opportunities for manipulation, while proponents of the law maintain that the provision accommodates technical realities in parts of the country with unreliable network coverage.
Despite the backlash, the law is now in force as President Tinubu has given his assent, setting the stage for the 2027 general elections under the new legal framework.