Electoral Act Amendment Foils Opposition 2027 Election Challenge Plan

APC Explains Opposition Friction Over Nigeria’s Amended Electoral Act

The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has stated that opposition parties are upset with the newly amended Electoral Act because it removes a potential legal strategy to challenge the 2027 general elections. Felix Morka, National Publicity Secretary of the APC, made the comments following President Bola Tinubu’s signing of the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill 2026 into law on Thursday.

Speaking on Channels Television’s ‘Politics Today’, Morka alleged that key opposition figures had planned to argue that any failure to transmit election results in real time electronically should invalidate the poll. He claimed the amendment, which no longer specifies real-time transmission as a requirement for result validity, directly frustrates this strategy.

“They were hoping to sell this dummy to the National Assembly and to Nigerians: that unless results are transmitted in real time, that becomes grounds to invalidate the election in 2027. That was it – it was a game plan,” Morka said, naming former presidential candidate Peter Obi and former Congress leader Buba Galadima among those opposed.

Morka contended that opposition leaders are fully aware that consistent internet connectivity for real-time transmission is not available across all of Nigeria’s vast and remote voting districts. He stated that figures like Galadima, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, Obi, and former Senate President David Mark understand this infrastructural limitation.

The amendment, now law, alters the 2022 Electoral Act by eliminating a clause that mandated the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to transmit election results electronically in real time. The change maintains electronic transmission but does not make real-time capability a condition for a valid election.

The opposition has rejected the amendment. The African Democratic Congress (ADC) and the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) have both described the new law as anti-democratic and an attempt by the ruling party to secure an advantage ahead of the 2027 elections.

The signed amendment formally updates Nigeria’s electoral framework amid long-standing debates over technology, transparency, and logistical feasibility in national polls. The dispute highlights the political maneuvering surrounding the rules that will govern the next general election, with the APC defending the change as pragmatic and opponents viewing it as a regression that undermines electoral integrity. The significance of the amended act will be tested in the lead-up to and during the 2027 electoral cycle.