“Every vote will now count,” says Godswill Akpabio as Electoral Act amendment is signed

Senate President Godswill Akpabio says the Electoral Act 2026 (Amendment), signed into law by Bola Tinubu, introduces safeguards aimed at protecting votes and limiting manipulation of election results.

The president assented to the bill on Wednesday at the State House in the presence of senior lawmakers from the national assembly.

Speaking to journalists after the signing, Akpabio said the amendment addresses longstanding concerns about the handling of results between polling units and collation centres.

He noted that, for the first time since Nigeria’s independence in 1960, the country’s electoral law formally recognises electronic transmission of results.

Under the amended law, results from each polling unit must be transmitted electronically to the portal of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), known as the iREV platform. The move follows calls by civil society groups, opposition parties and election observers after disputes over the 2023 general election.

Akpabio said the law makes allowances for areas with limited telecommunications coverage. In such cases, the polling unit result sheet (Form EC8A), signed by the presiding officer and party agents in the presence of security personnel, will serve as the primary record. Results can then be uploaded once connectivity becomes available, including at ward or local government collation centres.

The amendment enables citizens to compare results uploaded on the INEC portal with figures announced at ward, local government and state collation levels. According to Akpabio, discrepancies between electronically transmitted results and manually collated figures would be visible to the public.

He rejected suggestions that the national assembly acted under political pressure, stating that lawmakers concluded work on the bill during their break to meet public expectations.

The legislation also introduces direct primaries for political parties, allowing registered members to vote directly for candidates seeking nomination. Akpabio said the change is intended to broaden participation within parties.

Another provision requires that if a court disqualifies a declared winner after an election, a fresh poll must be conducted instead of awarding victory to the runner-up. The same principle, he said, applies to governorship elections, including constitutional spread requirements.

Separately, Tajudeen Abbas, speaker of the house of representatives, said the amendment shortens the election notice period from 360 days to 300 days. He indicated that the adjustment could shift presidential and national assembly elections in 2027 to January, potentially avoiding a clash with Ramadan.

The amendment was signed days after INEC released the timetable for the 2027 general elections.