National Assembly Passes Electoral Act Amendment Bill Ahead of 2027 Elections
In a session marked by high drama, protests, and internal divisions, Nigeria's National Assembly on Tuesday passed the harmonised version of the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill, 2026, paving the way for potential adjustments to the 2027 general election timetable and settling a long-running debate over result transmission. The bill, which repeals and re-enacts the Electoral Act 2022, introduces key changes including provisions for both real-time electronic transmission of election results to the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal and a manual fallback using Form EC8A in cases of network or technical failures (Clause 60(3)). The House of Representatives, which had earlier passed a version emphasizing mandatory real-time electronic transmission without a manual backup, reversed its stance during an emergency plenary. Following a motion to rescind its previous decision (moved by Hon. Francis Waive and supported by the Committee on Electoral Matters), the chamber adopted the Senate-ali...