Senate President Godswill Akpabio on Wednesday, February 18, declared that the Electoral Act 2026 (Amendment), signed into law by President Bola Tinubu, will ensure that every Nigerian vote counts and eliminate the manipulation of results between polling units and collation centres.
Akpabio spoke to journalists shortly after the signing ceremony at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, describing the amendment as a major step toward strengthening transparency and integrity in Nigeria’s electoral process.
“At the end, Nigerians will benefit a lot from future elections. Every vote will now count,” he said.
The Senate President noted that, for the first time since independence in 1960, Nigeria’s electoral law formally recognises electronic transmission of results.
According to him, the amended Act mandates the electronic transmission of polling unit results to the INEC Result Viewing Portal (iREV), a key demand by civil society groups, opposition parties and election observers following controversies surrounding the 2023 general elections.
He, however, explained that the law makes provisions for areas with limited telecommunications infrastructure, maintaining that the primary source of results remains the EC8A forms signed by presiding officers, party agents and security personnel at polling units.
“We took cognisance of areas where there may not be any network. Since the polling unit result comes in from EC8A, which is signed by the presiding officer and agents in the presence of security personnel, copies are given to all. That can serve as the primary source of collation,” Akpabio said.
He added that results would still be uploaded to the iREV once connectivity is available, enabling Nigerians to compare uploaded figures with those collated at ward, local government and state levels.
“The implication is that if what is eventually collated at the next centre is different from what is in the iREV, Nigerians will be able to compare whether the result has been tampered with. That problem has been eliminated,” he stated.
READ ALSO: Tinubu Signs Electoral Act 2026 Amendment Into Law Amid Controversy
Akpabio dismissed claims that the National Assembly bowed to political pressure, insisting that the amendment followed extensive consultations and plenary deliberations in both chambers.
He also highlighted other provisions of the law, including the introduction of direct primaries for political parties, allowing members to vote directly for candidates instead of relying solely on delegate systems.
The amendment further provides that where a declared winner is disqualified by a court, a fresh election must be conducted instead of declaring the runner-up as winner.
The same principle, he said, applies to governorship elections where constitutional spread requirements are not met.
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Abbas Tajudeen, noted that the amendment reduces the election notice period from 360 days to 300 days.
He said this adjustment could result in the presidential and National Assembly elections being held in January 2027, potentially avoiding the month of Ramadan and reducing voter apathy.
The Electoral Act 2026 (Amendment) was signed into law on Wednesday evening at the Presidential Villa with principal officers of the National Assembly in attendance.
It comes days after the Independent National Electoral Commission released the timetable for the 2027 general elections.
The 2022 Electoral Act had faced criticism following technical challenges experienced with the iREV portal during the 2023 elections, which led to allegations of irregularities.
The new amendment seeks to address those concerns while strengthening both manual and electronic safeguards in the electoral process.