President Bola Tinubu on Wednesday signed the Electoral Act, 2022 (Repeal and Re-Enactment) Bill 2026 into law, just days after the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) released the timetable for the 2027 general elections.

The signing ceremony took place around 5:00 pm at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, with principal officers of the National Assembly in attendance. The National Assembly had passed the amendment bill on Tuesday, paving the way for its swift assent.

Speaking after signing the bill into law, President Tinubu emphasised the importance of managing the electoral process to avoid confusion and disenfranchisement.

“I followed keenly what you are doing. The essence of democracy is to have very solid brainstorming, discussions, committed to national development and nation building, the stability of the nation.

“What is crucial is the fact that you manage the process to the extent there will be no confusion, no disenfranchisement of Nigerians, and that we are all going to see democracy flourish. It is time that we have confidence in our system,” the President stated.

President Tinubu noted that regardless of the system in place, human beings remain central to the electoral process.

“No matter how good a system is, it’s managed by the people, promoted by the people, and result is finalised by the people. In fact, for final results, you are not going to be talking to the computer, you are going to be talking to human beings who will announce the final results,” he said.

The President urged Nigerians to consider the country’s technical readiness for real-time transmission.

@thenigerialawyer“Nigerians Should Question Our Broadband Capability, How Technically Ready Are We?” — President Tinubu On Real-Time Transmission Debate

♬ original sound – TheNigeriaLawyer

“When you look at the crux of various arguments, maybe Nigerians should question our broadband capability. How technically are we today? How technically will we be tomorrow to answer the call of either real-time or not?”

President Tinubu pointed out that the voting process remains fundamentally manual.

“As long as you appear personally as a manual voter in any polling booth, ballot paper is given to you manually. You decide in a corner and fingerprint, thumbprint, the party of your choice. You cast your vote without hindrance and any interference. Ballots are subsequently counted manually, sorted, and counted manually.

“It’s just the arithmetic accuracy that is entered into — from EC8A. It’s still manual, essentially, and the transmission of that manual result is what we’re looking at, and we need to avoid glitches, interference, unnecessary hacking in this age of computer inquisitiveness.”

The President expressed optimism about Nigeria’s democracy.

“Nigeria will be there. We will flourish. We will continue to nurture this democracy for the fulfillment of our dream for prosperity and stability of our country. I thank all of you very much,” he concluded.

The new law has reignited debate over the electronic transmission of election results. Civil society organisations and opposition figures have continued to advocate real-time transmission from polling units to INEC’s central server, arguing that it would curb manipulation and enhance the credibility of elections.

The agitation intensified after protesters last week disrupted activities at the National Assembly complex, demanding live transmission of results. They cited alleged failures during the 2023 elections, when technical issues with INEC’s Results Viewing Portal triggered widespread claims of irregularities.

While the ruling All Progressives Congress has expressed support for the adoption of technology in elections, some APC stakeholders maintain that the country’s uneven telecommunications infrastructure requires a phased or hybrid approach that accommodates manual collation where electronic systems fail.

Meanwhile, INEC has scheduled the 2027 general elections for February 20, 2027, for presidential and National Assembly polls, and March 6, 2027, for governorship and state houses of assembly elections.

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