The Electoral Act, 2022 (Repeal & Enactment) Bill, 2026 has been approved by the Senate after 155 of its sections were considered and approved.
The majority of the regulations remained unchanged, but a few were revised to make the voting process in Nigeria more efficient.
An important modification is the shortening of the period for which the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is required to provide the election notice, from 360 days to 180 days.
The goal is for the commission to be able to work faster in the days before the elections. After Senator Tahir Monguno argued for a shorter deadline, the change was made.
In order for INEC to fulfil the criteria for publishing the notification, he explained, “The adjustment is necessary.”
“If the next general election were to be held after the 360 days had passed, it would already be late,” he continued.
This change will provide INEC a more reasonable amount of time to announce the election, which will allow for better planning and a more organised run of the 2027 ballots.
In a related development, the Senate rejected a proposed amendment to Clause 60, Subsection 3, of the Electoral Amendment Bill, which sought to make the electronic transmission of election results mandatory.
The rejected amendment called for the immediate electronic upload of polling unit results to the IREV portal following the signature, stamp, and countersignature of Form EC&A by party agents.
This decision was made just before INEC confirmed its readiness for the general elections in 2027, as previously reported by Gistcon.
The Commission has announced that it has finished working on the election calendar and activity schedule and is now waiting for legislative action on the proposed revisions to the Electoral Act, despite the difficulties surrounding their passage.
This was revealed by INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, at a meeting with CSOs on Wednesday in Abuja. Amupitan was highlighting the commission’s readiness to hold credible elections in 2027.