The Senate has swiftly dismissed the agitation by leaders of the opposition African Democratic Congress and the New Nigeria Peoples Party on the National Assembly demanding an immediate amendment of the Electoral Act 2026, which they described as anti-democratic and skewed ahead of the 2027 general elections.
However, the Senate quickly put an end to the protest, encouraging opposition leaders Rotimi Amaechi, Peter Obi, and Atiku Abubakar to address their issues within the National Assembly.
Ajuji Ahmed, national chairman of the New Nigeria Peoples Party, stated at a news conference in Abuja that the controversial clauses need to be removed right away.
Political parties were allowed to nominate candidates under the Electoral Act 2022 through indirect primaries run by delegates; direct primaries including all registered members; or agreements made by party leaders.
However, parties are limited to direct primaries and consensus alternatives under the 2026 Electoral Act, which was just approved by the National Assembly and approved by President Bola Tinubu on February 18.
The new law also shortens primary campaign schedules and dates, and it changes the budget for the Independent National Electoral Commission from 12 months to six months prior to an election.
President Bola Tinubu signed the Electoral Act 2026 into law last week, and according to Ahmed, opposition leaders saw some of its features as a calculated attempt by the ruling All Progressives Congress to weaken popular will before the general elections in 2027.
Reading from a prepared text, he stated, “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 check 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, Prof. Mahmud Yakubu, stated on record that the BVAS equipment, which operates offline, had worked with over a 90 percent 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 is available.
“This position has been further confirmed most recently by the 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.”
The opposition leader also noted that the accounts of these two principal INEC officials were strongly corroborated by data available in the public domain.
Ahmed added, “According to the Nigerian Communications Commission, as of 2023, Nigeria had achieved more than 95 percent 2G coverage, which is more than sufficient for the transmission of election results from polling units.
“By that same period, Nigeria already had more than 159 million internet subscribers and more than 220 million telephone subscribers using the 2G network. It is also noteworthy that this capacity provides 24-hour coverage of the entire country. This goes to show that denying mandatory real-time transmission of election results from polling units on the basis of lack of communication networks is not supported by evidence.
“Fortunately, millions of our people who transact business daily with various financial platforms, even from the remotest parts of the country, know that the no-network argument is fraudulent and is merely part of the APC game plan to rig the election in 2027.
“Indeed, we find it quite ironic that the same APC that strongly agitated for electronic voting only a few years ago is now opposed to the use of technology for the mere transmission of results. The game at hand is very clear.”
Speaking on party primaries, the opposition leaders stated that the amendment to Section 84 of the Act, which confines 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 also argued that the National Assembly could not rely on Section 228(b) of the Constitution as a basis to limit political parties to only two methods of nomination.
Ahmed stated, “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.
“It is obvious that the objective of the APC government and their accomplices in the legislature is to provide the legal pretext for the corruption of the electoral system.
“They harbor neither plans nor intentions to conduct free and fair elections in 2027, because even in their arrogance and self-delusion, they are acutely aware of their growing unpopularity across the length and breadth of Nigeria, even with the recent gale of coerced and procured defections to their party.
“We demand that the National Assembly immediately commence a fresh amendment to the Electoral Act 2026 to remove all obnoxious provisions and ensure that the act reflects only the will and aspiration of Nigerians for a free, fair, transparent, and credible electoral process in our country. Nothing short of this will be acceptable to Nigerians.”
Opposition leaders said they had seen the court, which is meant to protect democracy, being used as a weapon against it in recent years.
He stated, “The final arbiter in any democracy is the judiciary. It is therefore impossible to have real democracy without an independent and impartial judiciary. Unfortunately, we have witnessed in recent years how the very institution that is meant to protect democracy has been weaponized against democracy itself.
“We therefore wish to remind the judiciary that partisan politics is for the executive and the legislature, not the judiciary. The judiciary must stop being complicit in undermining our democracy. What we have witnessed in recent times represents strong evidence that our judiciary is in dire need of reform and the temple of justice is in need of deep cleansing.
“A situation where elections are blatantly rigged and those who participated in such criminality are quick to say, ‘If you are not happy, go to court,’ has done immeasurable damage to our democratic progress, and it must be stopped. Electoral outcomes must be decided by the people and not the courts. The judiciary must therefore rediscover its capacity for impartiality and neutrality and regain the intrinsic trust of citizens in its judgments.”
Former APC presidential candidate Rotimi Amaechi emphasized in his speech that the opposition’s tactics, not President Tinubu, were the true threat to the opposition.
He stated, “Actually, Tinubu is not our problem; the opposition is the problem of the opposition. The first thing we must know is that we must separate ourselves from the government in power. I said in one of these conferences that when I was in government, Muhammadu Buhari wanted electoral reform.
“So, a few ministers went to him and convinced him not to sign—that if he signed, Russia would hack the system and impose the wrong president on us. And he refused to sign.
“Tinubu will one day shout electoral reforms. If he doesn’t shout “electoral reforms,” those who are supporting him will shout “electoral reforms.” Tinubu is not our problem; watch his government and watch his strategy to win elections.
“His strategy is simple; his pattern is simple. He tries something today; you are weak. He puts something bigger; you are weaker. So, we need to focus on our strategy.”
Peter Obi, the 2023 Labour Party presidential candidate, also bemoaned the growing poverty rate and pointed out that the federal government, led by the APC, had borrowed a lot of money without producing any noticeable outcomes.
He stated, “We have the same view, but it is important that we repeat it as often as we can so that Nigerians know we are together. There is a need for a genuine opposition party. Those who are not here today—we are pleading that we all come together to save our dear country.
“The government we have today and that continues is the worst ever in our country. There is no governance in Nigeria. The legislature is at its worst. The judiciary is no longer the hope of the weak or the poor. Insecurity, killings, and abductions are worse than even in countries at war. Just in the past week, I mentioned killings in Zamfara on Friday, and today, even while we are speaking, over 20 have already been killed in Adamawa. It is all about the country; I just mentioned a few.
“Poverty has increased dramatically in the past two and a half years—from about 87 million to about 140 million today, the highest in any country on earth. In fact, we now have almost over 30 percent of the world’s poor people living in Nigeria. We now have more poor people living in Nigeria, a country of about 240 million, than China and India combined.
“This government has borrowed more, according to records, than all governments since 1999, without anything to show for it. Food prices have not gone down. Actually, we have killed all our farmers because we have imported cheap goods and thrown our farmers into poverty, which will even worsen the hunger situation in Nigeria in the future.
“Manufacturers’ houses and warehouses are full without anything to show for it. So, we have a crisis, and everybody has to come together to save the country.”
Atiku Abubakar, the former vice president, asked all foreign embassies to receive the opposition leaders’ stance on the election process.
Atiku stated, “And again, what you must bear in mind is that the collapse of democracy in Nigeria is going to lead to the collapse of democracy in Africa because we are the largest democracy in Africa. These are some of the consequences that will definitely affect other democracies in Africa.
“So, I will call on other opposition parties that are not here to make sure that they are part of this movement for the unity of opposition parties to ensure we restore our democracy.
However, a word of caution: we also went through this exercise in 2014, when we united and fought in this city because we believed that democracy was flawed, only to find ourselves in the same predicament. The main issues were insecurity, the economy, and so on, and now things are much worse.
“So, we must bear it in mind that we must make sure we restore true democracy to our country. That was what we fought for. That was what the founders of this country fought for and what we fought for in the military. We must make sure that it is established in this country.”
Instead of escalating political tensions, the Senate on Thursday asked the opposition to voice their concerns through National Assembly members.
Senator Yemi Adaramodu, the Senate spokesman, criticized the call for a second examination of the law, comparing it to a tardy move made after proper process was completed.
“Electoral Act again? Do you abort a pregnancy after the naming ceremony? But no problem. If they (opposition leaders) have any grey areas, they can just make their personal proposals to their legislators, and they will bring them.
“Once they bring it to the National Assembly, we will look at it,” he said.
Senator Orji Uzor Kalu, the chairman of the Senate Committee on South-East Development Commission, also voiced his opinion, arguing that the National Assembly, not private citizens or advocacy organizations, had the authority to change the Electoral Act.
“Review which Electoral Act? Something that Mr. President has assented to? No, it is the decision of the National Assembly to make, not an individual thing,” Kalu stated.
He warned opposition figures against what he described as “inflammatory rhetoric” capable of destabilizing the polity.
“The opposition should stop heating up the polity. The route they are taking is not the right one. They should leave this route because it can only lead to chaos.
“If they are not comfortable with the current administration, they should change it by contesting against Mr. President in 2027 and see if they can defeat him. In the meantime, they should stop heating up the polity,” he added.
As parties start early maneuvers ahead of the 2027 general elections, the most recent discussion highlights growing political tensions.
The Senate leadership insists that any changes must adhere to constitutional norms and be properly proposed inside the chamber, despite the opposition’s demands for a review of the electoral framework to guarantee openness and justice.
The Electoral Act argument is beginning to take center stage in Nigeria’s pre-2027 political environment as both sides dig in.
