What Actually Changed in the Electoral Act 2026

President Tinubu signed the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill 2026 into law on 18 February 2026. It runs to roughly 154 clauses and it governs the January and February 2027 elections.

If you have read a guide to Nigerian electoral law written before that date, assume it is out of date on at least three points.

Primaries: indirect is gone

Under section 84(2), political parties may now select candidates only by direct primary or by consensus. Indirect primaries — where delegates rather than members vote — have been abolished.

This is the change with the sharpest practical consequences. Indirect primaries concentrated candidate selection in a small pool of delegates, which made them cheaper to influence. Direct primaries require a party to poll its registered members. Consensus requires the written agreement of all aspirants.

Party primaries for the 2027 cycle ran from 23 April to 30 May 2026 under the new rules.

BVAS and IReV now sit in the statute

The Bimodal Voter Accreditation System was previously a creature of INEC's own regulations. Section 47 of the 2026 Act gives it express statutory recognition, which means the accreditation method can no longer be altered by administrative decision alone.

Section 60(3) requires the presiding officer to transmit the polling unit result electronically to the IReV portal, and section 60(6) makes wilful frustration of that transmission an offence carrying six months' imprisonment or a ₦500,000 fine.

The qualification that matters: the same section states that Form EC8A — the paper result sheet — remains the primary source of collation and declaration in all cases, with manual fallback where communication fails. The Act does not define "communication failure". Several commentators describe electronic transmission as effectively optional as a result. The more precise description is that transmission is compulsory, but the paper form retains legal primacy.

Shorter deadlines for INEC

Two timing changes cut against the commission:

• The notice period INEC must give before an election drops from 360 days to 300 days.
• INEC's dedicated fund must be released no later than six months before a general election, down from twelve (section 3).

The funding clause is the more consequential of the two. Late release of election funding has been a recurring complaint, and the shorter statutory deadline is meant to make it harder to starve the commission of money in the run-up to a poll.

PVCs can be downloaded

Permanent Voter Cards can now be downloaded from the INEC website. Collection queues have historically been a real barrier to turnout, particularly for people who registered away from their home ward.

Election petitions narrowed to two grounds

Under section 138, a petition may be brought on only two grounds:

1. that the election was invalid by reason of corrupt practices or non-compliance with the Act; or
2. that the respondent was not duly elected by a majority of lawful votes cast.

Disputes about a candidate's qualification were removed as a ground of petition. Previously, a challenger could argue after the fact that the winner had never been eligible to stand — over certificates, age, or party membership. That argument now has to be made before polling day, through the pre-election litigation route, not after results are declared.

Whether this is a reform or a loophole depends on your view. Supporters argue it stops losing candidates from relitigating settled elections on technicalities. Critics argue it removes the last check on a candidate who slips through screening.

What the Act did not do

Four proposals that attracted significant public support did not make it in:

• Diaspora voting — Nigerians abroad still cannot vote.
• Early voting — no provision for voting before polling day.
• Proxy voting.
• Prisoner voting.

A note on how it is described

Sources differ on whether the 2026 law wholly repealed the Electoral Act 2022 or amended it. It was passed as an amendment bill, but is widely described as replacing the 2022 Act. If you need to cite it precisely — in a legal filing, say — check the short title and the repeal clause of the Act itself rather than relying on news coverage, including this article.

Frequently asked questions

Does the 2026 Act apply to the 2027 elections? Yes. It was signed in February 2026 and governs the January and February 2027 polls.

Can my party still use delegates to pick a candidate? No. Section 84(2) permits only direct primaries or consensus.

If results are transmitted electronically, why are they collated from paper? Because section 60 preserves Form EC8A as the primary source for collation and declaration. Electronic transmission is required, but the paper form remains legally authoritative.

Sources

• Assent, 18 February 2026 — Premium Times
• Clause-by-clause analysis — OAL
• Pros and cons of the Act — ThisDay