law has been sharply denounced by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which calls it a grave setback to democratic values and ballot integrity.
Ini Ememobong, the opposition party’s national publicity secretary, issued a statement on Wednesday accusing the National Assembly of undermining Nigerians’ will by changing provisions that required election results to be transmitted electronically straight from polling places.
Shortly after the Independent National Electoral Commission released the schedule for the general elections in 2027, President Tinubu signed the Electoral Act 2026 (Amendment) into law. One day after parliamentarians passed the amendment bill, the signing ceremony was held at the Presidential Villa at approximately 5:00 p.m., with prominent members of the National Assembly in attendance.
Since then, the amended law has sparked intense public discussion, especially due to worries that it lessens the guarantees for results to be transmitted electronically in real time.
The PDP responded to the incident by claiming that the amendment is a serious betrayal of public confidence and that Nigerians have clearly called for transparent, technologically advanced election procedures.
“The Senate’s anti-democratic stance and the House of Representatives’ abrupt reversal on the amendment of the Electoral Act 2022, specifically on the mandatory electronic transmission of election results from the polling units, is an act of treachery against the Nigerian electorate,” the PDP said.
The reason this betrayal hurts the most is that it goes right to the heart of democracy and the integrity of elections.
The most startling part of the entire spectacle is how blatantly the lawmakers challenged the legitimacy of the votes, demonstrating their contempt for the Nigerian people who elected them to office. Nigerians’ intelligence is insulted by the feeble and nonsensical justifications offered for the inclusion of this annoying clause.
The only logical conclusion when politicians start weakening transparency measures before elections is that they are making a deliberate effort to allow for electoral manipulation. The National Assembly has transgressed the fundamental principle of legislative representation by this act, which is based on reflecting the preferences of the majority of its citizens. In equal, if not more severe, measures, the people will undoubtedly avenge this awful treachery.
The PDP further accused the amendment of interfering with political parties’ internal affairs by limiting party primaries to Direct and Consensus processes.
The statement went on to say, “The Supreme Court has repeatedly upheld the right of political parties to self-govern their internal operations. Therefore, this clause is beyond the bounds of the law, and it is unacceptable that political parties are being restricted.
Furthermore, the ruling party should embrace any system that ensures openness if it genuinely thinks it has the support it says it does. They are afraid of losing a free and fair election, as seen by their blatant support for this oddity. The fact that a party that in 2015 called for electronic voting is now hesitant and unprepared to transmit results electronically is extremely disheartening.
