Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has accused the Nigerian Senate of deliberately frustrating efforts to amend the Electoral Act 2022, warning that the upper legislative chamber’s continued delays could severely undermine the credibility of the 2027 general elections.
Abubakar, who contested the 2023 presidential election on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, made the allegation in a statement shared on his X account on Thursday, describing existing loopholes in the current Electoral Act as a major setback that enabled what he termed “brazen rigging” during the last electoral cycle.
“A major setback to the 2023 elections is the loopholes in the Electoral Act 2022 that paved the way for the brazen rigging of that election, and the near-impossibility of petitioners to advance their cases in the courts,” the former vice president stated.
Abubakar argued that the legal gaps in the legislation made it extremely difficult for petitioners to prove allegations of electoral malpractice before election tribunals and courts, effectively shielding perpetrators of electoral fraud from accountability.
The Adamawa-born politician stressed that urgent legislative action was required if similar challenges were to be avoided in future polls, particularly the approaching 2027 general elections.
“It is imperative that if the mistakes of the 2023 election are to be corrected, the legal instrument for the conduct of the 2027 and subsequent future elections needs to be reviewed,” he added.
The Electoral Act 2022, which was signed into law by former President Muhammadu Buhari in February 2022, represents the most comprehensive overhaul of Nigeria’s electoral legal framework in recent history. The legislation introduced several reforms including provisions for electronic transmission of results, clearer guidelines for party primaries, and expanded powers for the Independent National Electoral Commission.
However, the 2023 general elections, conducted under the new law, were marred by widespread allegations of irregularities, technical failures in the transmission of results, and controversies over compliance with INEC’s guidelines. These challenges prompted calls from various stakeholders, including political parties, civil society organizations, and election observers, for further amendments to address observed shortcomings.
The National Assembly has since been considering an Electoral Act Amendment Bill aimed at plugging identified gaps ahead of the 2027 electoral cycle. The proposed amendments reportedly seek to address issues around result transmission, voter register accuracy, and the legal framework for challenging election outcomes.
In his Thursday statement, Abubakar alleged that the Senate was intentionally blocking the passage of the proposed amendments, raising questions about the legislature’s commitment to credible elections.
“But as things stand, it has become obvious that the Senate is determined to frustrate the passage of amendments to the 2022 Electoral Act,” the former presidential candidate said.
He warned that failure to amend the law ahead of the 2027 polls would amount to a deliberate attempt to compromise the electoral process before voting even begins.
“The credibility of the 2027 general elections hinges on the urgency with which the Senate treats this crucial bill. It is, therefore, 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,” Abubakar stated.
The accusations come amid heightened political tensions as various stakeholders position themselves ahead of the 2027 electoral cycle. Abubakar, who has contested the presidency multiple times and came second in the 2023 election according to official results, has been vocal about what he describes as systemic flaws in Nigeria’s electoral system.
Nigeria’s journey toward credible elections has been marked by successive attempts at electoral reform, each responding to crises of legitimacy that have plagued the country’s democratic experience since the return to civilian rule in 1999.
The Electoral Act 2010, which governed elections for over a decade, was widely criticized for provisions that enabled electoral malpractice. The 2015 general elections, though relatively successful, exposed gaps in the legal framework around technology use and result collation.
Efforts to pass a new Electoral Act before the 2019 elections failed after then-President Buhari declined assent to the bill passed by the National Assembly, citing constitutional concerns around the sequence of elections and the timing of party primaries.
The eventual passage of the Electoral Act 2022 was hailed as a significant milestone, particularly its provisions allowing INEC to transmit results electronically—a clause that had been contentious in previous reform attempts. However, the implementation of these provisions during the 2023 elections generated controversy, with opposition parties alleging that INEC failed to comply with its own guidelines on electronic transmission.
