A coalition of civil society organisations has criticised the Electoral Act 2026, warning that it contains what it describes as dangerous loopholes that could undermine the 2027 general election. The groups spoke on Thursday at a press briefing in Abuja.
The coalition includes Yiaga Africa, the International Press Centre, ElectHer, the Nigerian Women Trust Fund, TAF Africa, the Centre for Media and Society and The Kukah Centre. They said the legislation is a missed opportunity for comprehensive electoral reform and raised concerns about the speed and transparency of its passage, alleging that last-minute amendments were introduced without adequate public scrutiny.
The organisations identified provisions on the electronic transmission of results as a key weakness, noting that while Section 60(3) mandates electronic transmission, it permits manual collation in cases of what it terms communication failure, which they said is not clearly defined. They also criticised a clause restricting the review of election results to reports filed by officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission, saying this excludes political parties, candidates and observers.
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The coalition further objected to the fifty million naira administrative fee for registering new political parties, describing it as exclusionary. They urged the Independent National Electoral Commission to publish a revised timetable for the 2027 elections, issue clear regulations to address ambiguities in the law and conduct a nationwide simulation of electronic result transmission.
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