Major events that will shape 2026

By Andrew Agbese, Itodo Daniel Sule (Abuja) Mohammed Ibrahim Yaba (Kaduna) & Ado Abubakar Musa (Jos) Salim Umar Ibrahim, Kano

The year 2025 ended yesterday amid numerous activities expected to spill over into 2026, with high hopes that the new year will be even more eventful due to key governance initiatives slated for implementation and heightened political activities ahead of the 2027 general elections.

In this report, our correspondents capture the events likely to define the year 2026.

Implementation of the new tax laws

Experts say the new tax law, which is taking effect today, would introduce significant changes aimed at modernizing the tax system, boosting government revenue, and improving the business environment.

The federal government has insisted on the implementation of the new tax reform despite controversies over whether the federal government should go ahead with the implementation, as there are reported discrepancies between the version of the laws signed by the President and the one gazetted. The battle is likely to be shifted to the court in the early part of this year.

Constitution amendment exercise

One important assignment to be undertaken by the National Assembly in 2026 is voting on the constitution amendment bills.

The exercise is chaired by the Deputy President of the Senate, Barau I. Jibril and his House of Representatives counterpart, Benjamin Okezie Kalu.

Lawmakers had, in 2025, revisited long-standing demands bordering on state police, devolution of powers, fiscal federalism, special seats for women in parliament, local government autonomy, independent candidacy, and judicial reforms, among many others.

Public hearings and engagements held across the geopolitical zones attracted robust citizen engagement. The Committee on Constitution Review from both the Senate and the House of Representatives haVE harmonised their reports and voting by lawmakers is expected to take place upon resumption from their Christmas and New Year break in January.

Electoral Act amendment Bill 2025

Closely linked to the constitutional review is the push by lawmakers to amend the Electoral Act well ahead of the 2027 general elections.

The exercise was largely driven by lessons and observations made from the 2023 general elections and subsequent off-cycle polls. Key debates centred on electronic transmission of results, timelines for party primaries, campaign finance regulation, stiffer penalties for electoral offences, legalising the use of technological devices such as BVAS, IRev and others in election conduct, as well as the funding of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), among others.

The House of Representatives, before proceeding on break in December, passed the 2025 Electoral Act amendment Bill after clause-by-clause consideration of the report of the Committee on Electoral Matters, chaired by Hon. Adebayo Balogun.

Key among the proposals approved include mandatory e-transmission of election results, use of BVAS and other technological systems for election, an increase in campaign spending limit, stiffer penalties for vote buying and selling, and sanctions for presiding officers who failed to stamp election results, among others. Meanwhile, the Senate is expected to consider and pass the Electoral Act amendment Bill 2025 when it resumes from recess in January.

Lawmakers and

governorship ambitions

Ahead of the 2027 election, some of the lawmakers in the National Assembly may not return as there are indications that they will be seeking governorship positions in their states.

In the House of Representatives, among those who are said to be eyeing governorship positions include Deputy Speaker Benjamin Okezie Kalu (Abia) and James Abiodun Faleke (Kogi). In the Senate, the Deputy President of the Senate, Barau Jibrin, is said to be eyeing the Kano governorship seat. Other names are expected to drop as we inch closer to the 2027 election.

APC and other national conventions

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has scheduled its state and zonal congresses, which will culminate in the party’s national convention for 2026.

The APC National Secretary, Senator Ajibola Basiru, stated that Ward congresses are fixed for Wednesday, February 18, 2026; LGA congresses will hold on February 20, while state congresses will hold on Saturday, March 7, 2026, and the national convention will hold from March 12 to March 17, 2026.

Other parties that are yet to hold their conventions would follow suit, even as many of them are grappling with internal crises.

Defections and

realignments

It is expected that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) will blow the whistle for political parties’ activities to commence in earnest ahead of the general elections.

With that, serious campaigns, rallies would take effect while defections and realignments would continue.

Eyes are already on the Zamfara State governor, Dauda Lawal, who has remained the only PDP governor seeking a second term that has not defected to another party.

There are reports that pressure is also in the governor of Abia State, Alex Otti, who was elected on the platform of the Labour Party, to move.

The African Democratic Congress (ADC) is also expected to harmonise its position on key positions within the party to make to decide on which zone takes its presidential ticket.

Ekiti and Osun governorship elections

One of the major off-cycle governorship elections will hold on June 20, 2026, in Ekiti State.

Governor Biodun Oyebanji has already emerged as the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC while other candidates have also elected theirs.

They include Dare Bejide for the ADC; Blessing Abegunde, NNPP, and Elder Oludele Bankole, SDP.

The INEC is yet to clear the PDP candidate due to ongoing litigation concerning the primary.

But Ekiti is seen as a strong base of the APC, coupled with the fact that it is going into the election with the power of incumbency.

The governorship election in Osun State will hold on August 8, 2026.

Governor of the State, Ademola Adeleke, who was in the  Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has defected to the Accord Party and has taken the governorship ticket of the party, though another faction of the party held its own governorship primary, where a different candidate, Mr Clement Bamigbola, emerged as the faction’s governorship candidate.

The Immediate Managing Director of the National Inland Waterways Authority, NIWA, Asiwaju Bola Oyebamiji, was, however, elected as the candidate of the APC.

The election is expected to test the preparedness of the APC and the opposition towards 2027, as Osun was a major battle ground between the opposition and the APC prior to the 2027 elections.

Opposition consolidation

The year 2025 has been a bad year for the opposition parties. Within the year, the PDP lost most of its governors and National Assembly members to the APC; while the much-touted coalition for opposition parties, the African Democratic Congress (ADC), has so far not made the much-expected impact in attracting high caliber defectors from the ruling party.

The presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 elections, Peter Obi, joined the ADC formally yesterday coalition. Nigerians look forward to seeing how this will help strengthen the opposition in the buildup to the 2027 elections.

Registration of new political parties and party primaries

More parties are likely to be registered within the year 2026, as INEC has pre-qualified 14 out of the 171 associations that applied to it for registration in 2025.

This would increase the number of political parties from the current 18 though the high number of registered parties hardly alters election outcomes in Nigeria.

But with the current influx of elected officials into the APC, not much is being expected from the yet to be registered political associations though some project that such parties would gain prominent members after the primaries and disagreements from the bigger parties.

If INEC does not adjust its timetable, a substantial number of primary elections, including for state governors, National and Assemblies, and even presidential would hold this year.

Insecurity and airstrikes

With the airstrikes in some parts of Nigeria by the US, it is expected that the last has not been heard about the efforts to wipe out terrorism and insurgency in Nigeria.

With the admission by the Nigerian government that the air strike was done in collaboration with it, it is expected that more of such actions would be taken to address the problem of insecurity in the country.

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