Tinubu Signs Electoral Act 2026 Into Law, But Civil Society Says Democracy Has Taken a Hit

Nigeria's political landscape shifted once again this week as President Bola Tinubu put pen to paper on one of the country's most contentious pieces of legislation in recent memory — and according to reports followed up by Visblog, not everyone is celebrating.

President Tinubu signed the Electoral Act Amendment Bill 2026 into law at a brief ceremony held at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, with Senate President Godswill Akpabio, Speaker of the House of Representatives Tajudeen Abbas, and other senior government officials in attendance. The National Assembly had passed the bill just the day prior, ending weeks of heated legislative debate.

At the heart of the controversy is Clause 60 of the amended legislation — a provision that makes the electronic transmission of election results optional rather than mandatory. For civil society organisations who have spent years pushing for real-time, transparent result uploads to INEC's Independent Results Viewing portal, it is a bitter setback.

The Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) has, however, been formalised as the sole mandatory method for voter accreditation — a development observers have cautiously welcomed as a step forward.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, President Tinubu defended the law's framework, telling attendees that human involvement in finalising results remains essential and that making electronic transmission optional would guard against hacking and technical glitches. "No matter how good the system is, it's managed by the people," he said.  

But according to reports obtained by Visblog, civil society organisations monitoring elections have described the day of signing as "the darkest day in the history of democracy in Nigeria." A coalition of these groups released a statement accusing the presidency of prioritising political expediency over electoral integrity, noting that the law leaves what they describe as dangerous loopholes in the nation's democratic architecture. 

The amended law also adjusts the "Notice of Election" window to 180 days and requires candidate list submissions 90 days before a general election. INEC has already released the timetable for the 2027 polls, with presidential and National Assembly elections scheduled for February 20, 2027, and governorship contests set for March 6, 2027. 

With the 2027 campaign season effectively underway, all eyes are now on how the new law will shape the battles ahead — and whether Nigeria's electorate will trust a system still wrestling with the ghost of 2023.