Electoral bill: What’s at stake for 2027

Amendments to the 2022 Electoral Act, which commenced last year, are yet to be concluded and passed into law, as the bill for the amendment is still pending at the National Assembly.

Weekend Trust confirmed that the House of Representatives had concluded deliberations on the bill and passed it over to the Senate in December, and on Thursday this week, the Senate set up a committee to do more work on the bill.

Also, the House has commenced moves to rescind its decisions earlier taken on some of the clauses and subject them to further amendments.

On Thursday, January 29, the House of Representatives listed some clauses which it wants to reconsider pursuant to Order 1, Rule 1 (2) of the Standing Orders.

Chairman of the House Committee of Rules and Business, Francis Waive, noted that the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill, 2025, was passed on Tuesday, December 23, 2025, but observed that provisions of Clauses 3(3), 60(3), 62, 75, 77(4), 82, 87(2)(vi) and 87(3)(v) require further amendments.

He said the affected clauses need to be strengthened to prevent multiple registrations across political parties, curb forum shopping by candidates after party primaries, and provide clear penalties for defaulters.

He expressed concern that without further refinement, the clauses could undermine efforts to ensure discipline within political parties and the integrity of the electoral process.

The recommittal, he said, was intended to address identified gaps and ensure that the amended Electoral Act effectively supports free, fair and credible elections in Nigeria. However, the motion was stepped till the next legislative sitting, which will be in two weeks, as the House has embarked on a two-week recess.

This development, according to analysts, has created uncertainty around the proposed law. A former National Commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Festus Okoye, has cautioned that delays could affect preparations for the 2027 general election, as the timing comes with consequences.

He recalled that in 2022, “The late passage of the bill and its late assent created fear, trepidation and uncertainty regarding the electoral framework for the 2023 general election,” explaining that Section 28(1) of the Electoral Act 2022 mandates the commission to publish election notices well ahead of the polls.

He said, “According to Section 28(1) of the Electoral Act 2022, the commission must publish a notice in each state of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory at least 360 days before the general election date, indicating when the election will take place and appointing a venue for submitting nomination papers.”

“This specific section remains unchanged in the Electoral Bill, 2025. All other deadlines in the bill are based on this, and the commission must plan within a clear, unambiguous and certain electoral framework,” he noted.

The Director General of YIAGA Africa, an organisation that specialises in voter education, said the more the National Assembly delays, the more it will impact the implementation of the law.

He said, “In 2022, when the law was signed into law by the president on February 25, we still had implementation problems because there were ambiguities in the law. Political parties, other stakeholders didn’t understand the implementation and operation of provisions of the bill.”

Some analysts say desirable as the amendment is, the pace has not been as swift as required, giving room to suspicions.

A political scientist, Dr Kabir Mato, in an exclusive interview with Weekend Trust, expressed similar sentiments, saying there are reasons to be apprehensive.

He said, “I think Nigerians have reasons to be afraid, and it’s not just to be afraid. I think we need to begin to educate and act very quickly too, so that these things are concluded. Otherwise, we will get to a stage where anything will just be assembled and presented as a piece of legislation that will guide the 2027 polls.”

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has also expressed concern over what he described as the Senate’s reluctance to pass amendments to the 2022 Electoral Act, saying the delay was undermining confidence in the nation’s electoral system.

He said it is imperative that the Senate finalises the amendments and ensures the updated law governs the conduct of the 2027 elections.

“Anything short of this is a deliberate attempt to rig the election long before the ballots are cast. The credibility of the 2027 general elections hinges on the urgency with which the Senate treats this crucial bill.”

Electoral Act controversies

The process of either enacting or amending the Electoral Act has always been mired in controversies. As far back as 2002, there was a near scandal when, in the process of passing the bill that would guide the 2003 elections, it was found that certain clauses not on the original bill had found their way into it.

A controversial Clause 81, having to do with the funding of political parties, was miraculously inserted into the proposed legislation, but all the parties that had something to do with the bill denied knowledge of it when the matter blew open.

Then President Olusegun Obasanjo accused the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Alhaji Ghali Umar Na’Abba, of inserting the controversial clause, but the House, through the then House leader, Alhaji Mohammed Kumalia, refuted the claim, saying the clause was entirely from the presidency and the House had no knowledge of how it appeared.

There was also serious back and forth over Section 15 of the Electoral Act 2002, which compels the conduct of all elections to be held in one day.

The most self-indicting for legislators has been the 2022 Electoral Act, when members of the National Assembly inadvertently excluded themselves from voting in the primary elections of their political parties — a situation which made former President Goodluck Jonathan say the National Assembly had “messed” up the primary elections across the country.

The current amendment

Commenting on the pending amendment to the Electoral Act, Okoye said Section 29(1) of the Electoral Bill, 2025, stipulates that, “Every political party shall, no later than 180 days before the date appointed for a general election, submit to the Independent National Electoral Commission the list of candidates it proposes to sponsor, who must have emerged from valid primaries.”

He added that “this assumes that political parties must conclude all matters related to the primaries 180 days before the set date.”

He said because of this, “It is essential for the National Assembly to pass the Electoral Bill, 2025, to enhance Nigeria’s democracy and strengthen the electoral process.

“The Independent National Electoral Commission is awaiting its passage. Political parties, civil society groups and the Nigerian people are all waiting,” Okoye added.

Okoye warned that failure to promptly pass and assent to the bill could lead to non-compliance by some parties.

“Nevertheless, another essential requirement in the Electoral Bill, 2025, exists, and if the bill is not passed and assented to promptly, some political parties might not comply with its provisions,” he cautioned.

He highlighted Section 77 of the bill, which introduces strict party membership documentation requirements.

“Section 77 of the Electoral Bill, 2025, states that each registered political party must maintain a digital register of its members, including their name, gender, date of birth, address, state, local government, ward, polling unit, National Identification Number and photograph, in both physical and electronic formats. Subsequently, a membership card shall be issued to the member,” Okoye said.

He further explained that “Section 77 of the bill also states that each political party must submit such a register to the commission at least 30 days before the date set for the party’s primaries, congresses or conventions.”

He stressed that eligibility is tied strictly to the submitted register. “Only members listed in the register shall be eligible to vote and be nominated in party primaries, congresses and conventions,” Okoye added.

Okoye warned of the implications of default, noting that “the issue is that a party that fails to submit the membership register within the specified time frame becomes ineligible to field a candidate for that election, and a political party shall not use any other register for party primaries, congresses and conventions apart from the register submitted to the commission,” he said.

Major provisions in the electoral amendment bill

Among some of the clauses in the amendment already approved by the House of Representatives is the upward review of campaign spending limits for candidates contesting various elective offices, raising the maximum presidential campaign expenditure from N5 billion to N10 billion and that of governorship candidates from N1 billion to N3 billion.

Under the approved Clause 93(4), spending limits for National Assembly candidates were also increased, with senatorial candidates now allowed to spend up to N500 million, up from N100 million, while House of Representatives candidates can spend a maximum of N250 million, compared to the previous N70 million.

For state constituencies, the campaign expense ceiling was raised from N30 million to N100 million, while chairmanship candidates’ limit was increased from N30 million to N60 million. Councillorship candidates can now spend up to N10 million, up from N5 million.

Lawmakers also approved a provision restricting individual or corporate donations to a maximum of N500 million per candidate.

Beyond campaign finance reforms, the House passed far-reaching amendments aimed at strengthening electoral transparency, including a provision mandating the real-time electronic transmission of election results by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The House approved a proposal mandating the real-time electronic transmission of election results by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to the IReV portal.

The approved Clause 60(3) states that the “Presiding officer shall electronically transmit the results from each polling unit to the IReV portal in real time, and such transmission shall be done after the prescribed Form EC8A has been signed and stamped by the presiding officer and/or countersigned by the candidates or polling unit agents, where available at the polling unit.”

The existing law does not mandate that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) transmit election results in real time.

Ahead of the 2023 general election, INEC had promised that the results would be transmitted in real time. The IReV portal was part of the technologies introduced by INEC to ensure transparency and improve the integrity of the electoral process.

But the portal remained inactive for an extended period following glitches, even after voting was concluded at some polling units, prompting suspicion from many Nigerians and other stakeholders.

The House also ratified a clause that would make the bimodal voter accreditation system (BVAS) the primary accreditation tool during elections.

The approved Clause 47(2) reads: “To vote, the presiding officer shall use a bimodal voter accreditation system or any other technological device that may be prescribed by the commission for the accreditation of voters to verify, confirm or authenticate the particulars of the intending voter in the manner prescribed by the commission.

“Where a bimodal voter accreditation system or any other technological device deployed for accreditation of voters fails to function in any unit and a fresh BVAS or technological device is not deployed, the election in that unit shall be cancelled and another election shall be scheduled within 24 hours if the commission is satisfied that the result of the election in that polling unit will substantially affect the final result of the whole election and declaration of a winner in the constituency concerned.”

Civil society organisations, political parties and other stakeholders have hailed the approval on electronic transmission of results and mandatory use of BVAS in the conduct of elections, saying it will engender transparency in the electoral process.

The House of Representatives also approved amendments introducing stiffer penalties for vote buying and selling, including a minimum of two years’ imprisonment or a N5 million fine, or both, alongside a 10-year ban from contesting elections.

Under the amended Clause 22 (a and c), individuals involved in the buying or selling of votes and voter cards now face significantly tougher sanctions than previously provided, where penalties were capped at N500,000 or a maximum of two years’ imprisonment.

Lawmakers further amended the sanctions for presiding officers who deliberately breach procedures on counting, announcement and transmission of polling unit results. A new Section 60(6) prescribes a minimum fine of N500,000 or at least six months’ imprisonment, or both, for any presiding officer who wilfully contravenes the provisions.

The House also approved a clause mandating the release of election funds to INEC at least one year before a general election, in a bid to enhance early planning and efficient conduct of polls.

To curb electoral fraud, lawmakers increased penalties for multiple voter registration. Under the amended Clause 12(3), offenders now risk a minimum fine of N100,000 or at least one year’s imprisonment, or both.

Lawmakers also approved an amendment introducing a five-year jail term for presiding officers found guilty of declaring false results.

In another adjustment, the House extended the deadline for political parties to submit their list of candidates to INEC from 180 days to 210 days before an election, allowing the commission more time for processing.

The House further approved provisions allowing the use of electronically generated voter identification, including downloadable voter cards with unique QR codes, or any other identification prescribed by INEC, for voter accreditation and voting.

Meanwhile, lawmakers rejected a clause seeking to penalise inducements of delegates during primaries, congresses and conventions.

Clause 89(4) proposed that “A person that financially or materially induces a delegate for the purpose of influencing the outcome of party primaries, congresses and conventions commits an offence and is liable on conviction to imprisonment to a term of two years without an option of fine.”

However, lawmakers during the consideration of the clause raised concerns over the proposal, saying it could be an entrapment for them. They subsequently rejected the clause and asked that it should be deleted.

The amendment also recommended that political appointees should not be eligible as voting delegates or aspirants under Clause 89(3) and (4).

Sub-clause (3) was repealed to state that where a court finds that a political party failed to comply with the provisions of the bill in conducting its primaries, its candidate shall not be included in the election.

Way out

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has decried the delay by the Senate in passing the amendment to the Electoral Act, saying it is inimical to the consolidation of democracy in Nigeria.

Speaking on the development, the PDP National Publicity Secretary, Comrade Ini Ememobong, said a better Electoral Act than the previous one that will give Nigerians a free and fair election is a debt that the National Assembly owes Nigerians.

He therefore called on the Senate to immediately do what is necessary, pass the amendments and send it to the president for signing.

He said, “The delay is inimical to democratic consolidation and should be condemned by all people of good conscience.”

According to him, “A better Electoral Act than the previous is a debt that the National Assembly owes Nigerians.

“In fact, it’s the irreducible minimum they can offer. Unnecessarily delaying it becomes an affront on the sensibilities of the citizens. We urge the National Assembly to immediately pass the amendments and send to the president for assent,” he said.

Dr Mato maintained that if the National Assembly eventually passes the bill and it is taken to the president, he should sign it immediately so that Nigerians can begin to read it, digest it and prepare for the coming elections.

Samson Itodo said the only way out is for the bill to be passed within the next two weeks and signed into law by the president.

“The Senate should conclude its process next week, let them harmonise with the House and transmit to the president. And the president should assent to the bill without any further delay so that we don’t jeopardise the legitimacy of the 2027 elections,” he stated.

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