Uncertainty clouds 2027 polls over ‘demonic’ Electoral Act provisions, as IPAC threatens boycott 

Fresh controversy seems to trail the newly enacted 2026 Electoral Act hastily passed by National Assembly and signed by President Bola Tinubu. opposition parties in the National Assembly were clearly blinded-sided and distracted by the APC majority leadership when they inserted very obnoxious provisions in the bill when the people focused attention on mode of transmission of results, which they also lost out, as the government ensured that their normal mode of manipulating elections, the Form C8 remains the main proof of voting result although they managed under public protest to include electronic transmission.

Last week, Inter Party Advisory Council, IPAC, rose from its monthly meeting and declared that they would not be participating in the election if the Electoral Act was not further amended to provide a level playing ground since it appears the process had been rigged against the position before the election.

For instance, the political parties have just six weeks to compile a digital membership register which is a prerequisite for participation in the election. APC has an insider tip about the provision and started its registration since December, which gives it a three months head-start and leaves the opposition in jeopardy.

Since the time the bill  was at the National Assembly, before it was finally passed into law and signed by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the attitudes  of the law makers over the bill, created tensions, as the Senate sat on it after the House of Reps had passed the bill in December.

Dropping the Ball

Many Nigerians had foreseen the controversy that now trail it as the lawmakers, especially members  of the ruling party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) ignored the urgent expected of the Assembly over the issue. As it seems, it was that delay and distraction that enabled them to distort and manipulate the bill as publicly anxiety built up.

It was a deliberately choreographed act of treachery and deception by the Senate when the first passed the bill Without express stipulation of electronic transmission of results, which was used the Supreme Court to dismiss both the petitions of Mr. Peter Obi of Labor Party and Alhaji Atiku Abubakar of PDP, as the electronic transmission was not recognized in law having only been included in INEC’s regulations, which is discretionary rather than the Electoral Act.

Opposition parties and civil society groups had encamped at the National Assembly to compel the Senate to include electronic transmission as, which forced  the Senate then on break to reconvene and hurried add the provision but still without making the first determinant of the results.

What is now envisaged  that could escalate the agitations and completely render  the law ineffective  and could  eventually  mar the  coming 2027 election, which would be the first to test the effectiveness or otherwise,  of the new electoral law,  was the decision of the body that controls all the political parties in Nigeria,  which has vehemently  rejected  the new electoral Act.

This latest rejection of the Act by the  Inter-Party Advisory Council, (IPAC )

is now giving Nigerians serious concern, because if its  threat to boycott the 2027 finally  comes to fruition, Nigeria may be in total political disarray, as it will not be possible  for only the ruling party to contest the election and as well declared itself the winner, which would be an aberration to the political system, which Nigeria has been nurturing since the past 25 years.

Playing To the Script

However, observers believe that this may be the end game for President Tinubu and the APC to shut out the credible opposition parties and figures such as Atiku Abubakar, Rotimi Amechi and Peter Obi all of Action Democratic Party, ADC, from featuring in the polls to pave way for easy victory for Tinubu. Already, the party has 32 governors out of the 36 in the country, and controls 78 out of 109 senators, and 242 reps out of 360 members. On paper the election is practically over.

To press home their position the after press conference to announce their decision, the chairman  of Inter-Party Advisory  Council, (IPAC), Yusuf Dantalle,  appeared on Channels Television on “Politics  Tonight”  to press home their points of the body,

warning that political parties across the country may boycott the 2027 general elections, if controversial provisions in the newly enacted Electoral Act 2026 are not urgently amended.

The main body of  all registered political parties, argued that the law,  which was passed by the National Assembly,  despite all the flaws  discovered,   and  hurriedly signed by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, contains provisions that could undermine internal party democracy, which as a matter of fact,  could  weaken the credibility of the electoral process and put Nigeria in commotion.

The IPAC National Chairman, earlier in a press conference in Abuja,  pointed  out  that the council would mobilize parties nationwide to resist the provisions of the law found to be inimical to the  smooth operations of political parties and the electoral process,  if the National Assembly fails to correct them.

Dantalle argued  that initially  the proposal of the amendment to the 2023 Electoral Act meant well, but along the line, those, who wanted  to use it for their selfish interests, manipulated the process at the National Assembly,  rendering the original intention impotent, without addressing  the  anomalies in the Electoral Act 2022, which the 2026 Act ought to have done.

Frying Pan To Fire

Rather than taking care of the inadequacies  found in the 2023 Act,  it was discovered  that several sections of the new legislation introduced fresh challenges capable of weakening multiparty democracy.

Dantalle argued, that  while  IPAC appreciated  the considerable effort and energy invested in the enactment of the new Electoral Act 2026, it was noted with concern, that certain provisions in the Act contained new issues, that are not conducive to the development of political parties, which could   deepened democracy in Nigeria.

The IPAC chairman in his submissions,  faulted Section 84(2) of the Act, which excludes the use of indirect primaries by political parties,  which according  to him, constitutes an infringement on the constitutional rights of parties to manage their internal affairs, and also contrary to Supreme Court decisions that only party have power to determine their emergence of their leaders.

This clause in the amended electoral Act, he pointed out, has gone against  several judicial pronouncements, that  stated that political parties  have certain fundamental rights, in the administration of their internal affairs. “However, the new Electoral Act, 2026 has curtailed this right through Section 84(2), which excludes indirect primaries”.

“IPAC believes that the exclusion of indirect primaries constitutes a violation of the constitutional right of political parties to regulate their internal affairs, including determining the method of nominating their candidates for elections and leadership.”

Other areas in contention, which the IPAC kicked against also include the removal of mandatory electronic transmission of election results,  the  absence of such a provision, contributed to controversies that trailed the 2023 Nigerian presidential election. Also new is the requirement that political party members must upload their National Identification Number during membership registration, which could  disenfranchise millions of Nigerians and  the  lack of mandatory electronic transmission of election results after announcement at polling units, which was erased.

Condoning of Criminality

Also,  the areas faulted in the  amendment include the expungement of Sections 77(4–7), dealing with stronger penalties for vote buying, and the restoration of forged certificates as grounds for election petitions.

IPAC also warned that it would escalate the matter to the international community if the concerns were ignored.

“Should the National Assembly fail to address these anomalies through urgent amendments to the Act, political parties under the umbrella of IPAC will be compelled to boycott the 2027 General Elections. In such circumstances, the outcome of the elections will be rejected as illegitimate and will not be recognised by the political parties,” the council warned.

Political observers  believed  that what actually saved the Electoral Act to sail through at the National Assembly, despite  criticism  before  the passage, was the fact that the APC, which it was believed and allegedly intended to use the Electoral Law to its advantage,  commands majority at the red and green  chambers.

When the debate on the bill was intensed, the minority  members in the opposition  parties, fumed at the way the process was going on and when they were not satisfied, they  staged a work out, but their protest did not hold any water as the majority,  eventually  had their ways.

Subsequently,  the oppositions headed by the former  Vice President Alhaji Atiku Abubakar  too,  protested and of the opinion  that the new 2026 electoral  law, was aimed at helping the ruling party, the APC to rig the election,  hiding under the law, a situation  which it was said, would be difficult  to challenge the result of the election in the Law Court.

Part of the clauses  in the new electoral  law giving so much concern  to Nigerians, and which it was argued, could lead to malpractices  in the electoral  process, is the  introduction of the proviso in Section 60(3), which allows wide and undefined discretionary powers to the presiding officer that overrides and negates the purpose of introducing electronic transmission of election results from polling units.

It was further  contended by political analysts that this  negation is unambiguously intended to provide a blank cheque to those, who seek to manipulate election results by delaying the electronic transmission of results from the polling units to the IREV on the pretext of network failure.

It was said that the premise of the proviso in Section 60(3) is the unavailability or possibility of network failure, which other political  stakeholders found  dubious and inconsistent with reality.

With the current legal frameworks  as enumerated by  legal luminaries, Collins Okeke,  a partner and head of government relations and public sector practice at Olisa Agbakoba Legal office, and Gukongozi Esther also an associate at Olisa Agbakoba Legal office, quoted by Cable network, on the electoral  law,  the argument  is that its provisions on result transmissions are vague.

“Section 60(5) of the Act states that “the presiding officer shall transfer the results, including the total number of accredited voters and the results of the ballot, in a manner as prescribed by the Commission.”

This language, it was argued,  gives the Independent National Electoral Commission complete discretion over how results move from polling units to collation centres.

Adopting Old as Good

“What the Senate Actually adopted, when the Electoral Act Amendment Bill came before the senate for consideration on 4 February 2026, senators initially rejected the committee’s proposal and voted to retain the existing Section 60(5) language from the 2022 Act. The decision sparked nationwide protests and fierce criticism from civil society organisations.

Faced with public outrage, the senate convened an emergency session on 10 February, and the passed a revised version of Clause 60(3).”

“The senate’s adopted provision now reads: “The presiding officer shall electronically transmit the results from each polling unit to the IREV portal, 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 agents where available at the polling units. Provided that if the electronic transmission of the results fails as a result of communication failure, the result contained in Form EC8A signed by the presiding officer and/or countersigned by the polling agents shall, in such a case, be the primary source of collation and declaration of results.”

“This version however, makes three critical changes from the committee’s recommendation. First, it removes the phrase “in real time,” meaning presiding officers must electronically transmit results, but not necessarily immediately, whilst witnesses are present. Second, it creates an exception for “communication failure” without defining what constitutes such a failure or what proof is required. Third, it designates manual Form EC8A as “the primary source” when electronic transmission allegedly fails, effectively creating a hierarchy where paper results can override electronic records.”

However, the Legal Implications of the Senate’s Position is that the removal of “in real time” from the senate’s version fundamentally weakens the provision’s effectiveness. Without a time requirement, presiding officers can leave polling units with paper forms, and nothing in the law compels them to upload results within any specific timeframe.

A presiding officer could theoretically wait hours or even days before transmitting results electronically. During this delay window, opportunities arise for external pressure, bribery, or coercion to alter results before they are uploaded”

Meanwhile the immediate past INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmud Yakubu, stated on record that the BVAS equipment, which operates offline, had worked with over 90% success rate across the nation, and in the event of network failure at the point of transmission, the transmitted results would be delivered successfully whenever network is available,”

Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) also confirmed, to have as at 2023,  achieved more than 95% 2G coverage, which is more than sufficient for transmission of election results from polling units, adding that the capacity for 24 hour coverage of the entire country goes to show that denying mandatory real-time transmission of election results from the polling units on the basis of lack of communication network is not supported by evidence.

“Indeed, we find it quite ironic that the same APC that strongly agitated for electronic voting only a few years ago is now opposed to the use of technology for mere transmission of results. The game at hand is very clear.”

“The National Assembly cannot hide under the provision of Section 228(b) of the Constitution to restrict political parties to only two methods of nomination. There is nothing undemocratic about indirect primaries, which create an electoral college for the selection of candidates in an objective, transparent and orderly manner.”

“What they are working towards is the coronation of Tinubu in 2027. Therefore, we find this amendment in bad faith and we reject it outright. In the coming days, we shall explore every constitutional means to cure this indirect hijack of the independence of political parties.”

Speaking on the role of citizens,  on the electoral  process, a chieftain of the NNPP, Buba Galadima, said Nigerians need to rise up to their responsibility, adding “I don’t think this should be left only to politicians. It is the duty of everybody in Nigeria should to protect this democracy,” he pointed out.