President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Wednesday, February 18, 2026, signed the amendments to the 2022 Electoral Act into law, saying he had followed the debate on the document at the National Assembly closely.
The 2026 Electoral Act has therefore repealed the Electoral Act 2022, thus ushered in a new legal framework to expected to guide Nigeria’s elections ahead of the 2027 general polls.
The President particularly commended the leadership of the National Assembly for managing the process very well, to the extent there was no confusion, no disenfranchisement of Nigerians, and that we are all going to see democracy flourish.”
Tinubu said; “The essence of democracy is to have very solid brainstorming discussions committed to national development, nation-building, and the stability of the nation.
“It is time that we have confidence in our system. No matter how good the system is, it’s managed by the people, promoted by the people, and the people finalise the results,” he said.
Speaking on the ‘controversy’ preceding its passage, Tinubu insisted that humans still have a significant role to play in finalising results, saying that computers can’t do everything, given that many aspects of the voting process are still largely manual.
According to the President; “And when you look at the crux of various arguments, maybe Nigerians should question our broadband capability. How technically sound are we today? How technically sound will we be tomorrow in answering the call, whether in real time or not?
“And as long as you appear personally as a manual voter in any polling booth, a ballot paper is given to you manually. You decide in a corner and fingerprint the person you choose. You cast your vote without hindrance or interference.
“Ballots are subsequently counted manually. It’s just the arithmetic accuracy that is entered into it from easy thinking. It is still manual, essentially.
“The transmission of that manual result is what we’re looking at. And we need to avoid glitches, interference, and unnecessary hacking in this age of computer inquisitiveness. Nigeria will be there,” he stated.
In his remarks, Senate President, Godswill Akpabio described the day (Wednesday) as a truly significant day, with the two major religions commencing their fasting seasons.
Akpabio said the two chambers worked tirelessly on the bill for two years to make sure that “we met the right time”, so that INEC can do the necessary procurements and bring out the right timetable for next year’s election.
He further said; “We have also ensured that we provided a lot of clauses in the amendment that will enable you to conduct free and fair elections in Nigeria that will be acceptable to the international community and all Nigerians, that will meet the yearnings and aspirations of all Nigerians as democrats”.
Akpabio noted that, though some members disagreed with the decision on the Bill, it was the beauty of democracy.
According to him; “At the end, we all came together, and this is the final product. As soon as you sign this, you will have made history as the first president to introduce electronic transmission of results from the polling units to the entire world.
“We have the IReV now, which is a portal for viewing. It allows you to see what is happening across all polling units. Even if you don’t have a network, shortly after that, if you take it to a networked location, it will sync, and people will still have the opportunity to view.
“So, we have made all the necessary inclusions to ensure that Nigerians are going to be happy, the international community will be happy, and it will make the elections also easy for INEC to do,” he explained.
He commended Nigerians of all walks of life for their interest, cooperation, support, and prayers towards meeting their yearnings.
Present at the signing ceremony were the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Tajudeen Abbas, his deputy, Benjamin Kalu, some principal officers of the National Assembly, Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, and the Special Adviser to the President on Senate Matters, Senator Basheer Lado.
The signing of the Electoral law followed its harmonisation by both chambers of the National Assembly on Tuesday, a process that drew opposition from minority lawmakers during deliberations and serious criticisms from a cross section of Nigerians that included Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and other organisations.
With presidential assent, the new Electoral Act with new amendments and caveats would guide the conduct of election in 2027.
