The African Democratic Congress (ADC), has declared that President Bola Tinubu’s hurried assent to the 2026 Electoral law has set Nigeria’s democracy back by decades as it is tantamount to signing a death warrant against credible polls in the country.
It specifically said that the haste with which President Tinubu assented to the electoral law, was part of the All Progressives Congress (APC’s) plot to rig the 2027 general election.
The ADC pointedly said that by refusing to slow down, listen and meaningfully engage the concerns of Nigerians, President Tinubu and the APC-led National Assembly have clearly shown that they are afraid of what the Nigerian people will do to them in a free and fair election, thus, have reacted by demonstrating outright disregard for the very citizens whose mandate sustains their democratic authority.
The ADC in a statement by Bolaji Abdullahi, National Publicity Secretary, said it was sad that at a time when Nigerians across party lines were demanding more accountability in the electoral system, President Tinubu hurriedly signed the new electoral law, which grossly failed to improve citizens’ confidence in the electoral process.
In the words of the ADC; “No government that is confident in its democratic mandate and cares about its citizens should place its people in a position that risks heightening tension during elections”.
The President on Wednesday, signed into law the 2026 Electoral law, 24 hours after it was passed by the two chambers of the National Assembly, amid protests over some sections of the new legislation.
Specifically, civil society organisations as well as key opposition figures, protested the non-inclusion of mandatory electronic transmission of election results in the new electoral law.
ADC said; “With the alarmingly speedy assent to the Electoral Act Amendment Bill, President Bola Tinubu has signed the death warrant on credible elections, and by so doing, set Nigeria’s democracy back by several decades.
“In signing the bill into law, the President claimed to be consolidating the country’s democracy, but in reality, he has simply corrupted it further by introducing ambiguity and permitting excessive discretion in the collation and transmission process.
“ADC is also deeply concerned about what this amendment portends for Nigeria’s forthcoming elections. In the absence of firm guarantees of electronic transparency, vigilant citizens may feel compelled to physically safeguard their votes to prevent discrepancies between polling units and collation centres, as has been witnessed in the past.
It however assured that with the assent to the new electoral law by President Tinubu, it was prepared and willing to defend the country’s democracy through every constitutional and lawful means at its disposal.
In the words of the ADC; “As a duly constituted political party in the Federal Republic of Nigeria, with the actions taken by President Tinubu on Wednesday, February 18, moving forward, the ADC affirms in the strongest and clearest possible terms that we are ready, willing and prepared to defend the sanctity of Nigeria’s democracy using every constitutional and lawful means available to us.
“We will mobilise Nigerians toward vigilance, lawful participation and unity in defence of their constitutional rights. We stand firm in the belief that the will of the people must prevail and that no law, however hastily enacted, can extinguish the democratic aspirations of a free nation,” it insisted.
