President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has signed the Electoral Act Amendment Bill 2025 into law, giving it the required presidential assent to become an Act of Parliament.
The signing ceremony took place at the State House in the presence of Godswill Akpabio, President of the Senate, and Tajudeen Abbas, Speaker of the House of Representatives. They were accompanied by principal officers of both chambers of the National Assembly.
A key provision of the new Electoral Act mandates the electronic transmission of election results through the Independent National Electoral Commission’s Result Viewing Portal (IReV).
However, in situations where electronic transmission fails due to network or technical challenges, the physical result sheet (Form EC8A), duly signed by the presiding officer and party agents, will serve as the primary source for collation and declaration of results.
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The Act also reduces the notice period for elections from 360 days to 300 days.
Additionally, the law removes the indirect primary option for political parties, leaving them with only two modes of candidate selection — direct primaries and consensus arrangement.
Speaking to State House correspondents, Akpabio said the National Assembly carried out a thorough and patriotic review of the legislation despite controversies surrounding certain provisions, particularly Section 60 on electronic transmission and the role of Form EC8A.
According to him, the amended Act reflects the aspirations of Nigerians for greater transparency in the electoral process.
He explained that while electronic transmission via IReV is now mandatory, lawmakers also considered areas with poor network coverage. In such cases, results from the polling unit, captured on Form EC8A and signed in the presence of security agents and party representatives, would be used for collation before eventual upload once network access becomes available.
Akpabio said this system would allow Nigerians to compare collated results with those uploaded on IReV, thereby reducing the risk of tampering after results leave polling units.
He described the amendment as historic, noting that electronic transmission of results had not been formally recognised in previous electoral laws.
The Senate President further stated that the Act addresses scenarios where a candidate who secures the highest votes is later disqualified by a court. Instead of automatically declaring the runner-up winner, the law now provides for a fresh election in such circumstances.
In his remarks, Abbas said reducing the notice period for elections from 360 to 300 days would help address voter apathy.
He added that the adjustment could result in the presidential and National Assembly elections being held in January 2027, thereby avoiding a clash with the Ramadan period.
According to him, the amendment represents another effort by the National Assembly to strengthen participatory democracy and improve electoral credibility ahead of future general elections.