President Bola Ahmed Tinubu signed the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill 2026 into law on Wednesday, establishing a rigorous legal framework for the 2027 general elections. The signing ceremony, held at the State House in Abuja, occurred just 24 hours after the National Assembly passed the final harmonised version of the bill.
The new legislation mandates the electronic transmission of results from polling units to the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV), while retaining a provision allowing manual transmission of election results in the event of network failure. It also provides formal statutory backing for the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and requires the federal government to release election funding to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) at least one year before a general election.
"After every election cycle, we owe Nigerians an honest look at what worked and what must work better," President Tinubu stated in a release by his media aide, Bayo Onanuga. "These amendments are not about politics; they are about process. They are about closing gaps, strengthening procedures, and providing greater clarity to those who conduct and participate in our elections."
Senate President Godswill Akpabio confirmed the assent to journalists, noting that the harmonised report—including the contentious Section 60(3) regarding result transmission—had been successfully resolved by both chambers. The Act also shortens the timeline for the notice of election from 360 days to 180 days and introduces a mandatory minimum of ten years' imprisonment for officials found guilty of intentional false declarations during result collation.