The pending Electoral Bill contains some of the most consequential electoral reforms
since 2022. These are not abstract legal adjustments but practical mechanisms
designed to rebuild public trust. The bill mandates the early release of INEC funds to
ensure adequate preparation, requires INEC to submit audited accounts within six
months to deepen transparency, introduces a NIN requirement to clean up the voter
register, expands democratic inclusion through inmate voting, and sets a clear timeline
by ensuring elections are held at least 185 days before the end of tenure. It also
introduces early voting for electoral workers. These are significant improvements over
the 2022 Act, which despite its progressiveness still left key gaps in timing and
transparency. Yet these reforms now risk dying on the floor of the Senate.
Nigeria stands on the edge of a preventable electoral disaster, yet the Senate under the
leadership of Godswill Akpabio is treating it with astonishing nonchalance. While the
nation prepares for the next general election cycle, the Senate has conveniently gone on
recess until January 27, dangerously close to the legal deadline that determines
whether the coming elections can take place under improved and credible standards or
remain trapped within the flaws of the existing framework. This is not accidental. It is a
choice, a deliberate act that jeopardises the credibility of our democracy. On December
3, 2025, the bill was listed on the order paper but was deliberately skipped.
The pending Electoral Bill contains some of the most consequential electoral reforms
since 2022. These are not abstract legal adjustments but practical mechanisms
designed to rebuild public trust. The bill mandates the early release of INEC funds to
ensure adequate preparation, requires INEC to submit audited accounts within six
months to deepen transparency, introduces a NIN requirement to clean up the voter
register, expands democratic inclusion through inmate voting, and sets a clear timeline
by ensuring elections are held at least 185 days before the end of tenure. It also
introduces early voting for electoral workers. These are significant improvements over
the 2022 Act, which despite its progressiveness still left key gaps in timing and
transparency. Yet these reforms now risk dying on the floor of the Senate.
History has already warned us about the consequences of late electoral reform. In 2017
and again in 2018, President Muhammadu Buhari refused to sign amendments to the
Electoral Act because they arrived too close to the general elections. He argued that
implementing major changes on the eve of elections could destabilise the process.
Whether one agreed with him or not, the outcome was clear. The 2019 elections were
conducted under an older and weaker framework because the National Assembly acted
too slowly. The lateness of the bill became the justification for its rejection. Today,
Akpabio’s Senate is dragging Nigeria into that same trap. If the amendment is not
passed before INEC issues the Notice of Election, the President will have identical
grounds to decline assent. Once again, Nigerians will vote under an outdated and flawed
law simply because the Senate refused to act with urgency.
Under the current Electoral Act, INEC must issue the Notice of Election one year before
Election Day, meaning February 2025. If the amendment bill is not passed before that
notice is issued, implementing the reforms becomes legally and practically impossible.
The Senate knows this. Yet instead of treating the bill as a national emergency, it has
chosen to go on recess until January 27, leaving only a handful of days to debate,
harmonise, pass, and transmit the bill. This is not innocent delay. It is negligence, and at
worst, deliberate sabotage of the democratic process.
What makes this even more troubling is that the bill could have been passed months
ago. The entirety of 2024 was available, yet the Senate prioritised bills that benefit the
political elite. The National Anthem Bill, symbolic and with no material impact on
governance, was passed with lightning speed. Tax bills that directly affect elite interests
also moved quickly. Yet electoral reform, the foundation of democratic integrity, has
been treated with lethargy. The pattern is clear. Bills that serve the people move slowly,
while bills that serve the powerful sprint through the chambers.
Nigeria is now trapped in a manufactured democratic dilemma. If the Senate fails to
reconvene and pass the amendment in January, the country will once again conduct
elections under an outdated framework that leaves enormous room for manipulation,
inefficiency, and mistrust. The situation is painfully simple. The reform bill cannot be
implemented unless it is passed before INEC issues the election notice. INEC must
issue that notice in February, and the Senate is not resuming until January 27. Without
immediate action, we are watching a crisis unfold that will shape the credibility of our
elections for years.
The Senate must immediately cut short its recess and reconvene to pass the Electoral
Act amendment bill. Democracy cannot wait for lawmakers to return from holiday.
Electoral credibility is not a part time obligation. If Akpabio and the Senate fail to act,
they must be held responsible for the consequences. These include a weaker electoral
system, a less trusted INEC, a more vulnerable election process, and a Nigeria pushed
deeper into democratic uncertainty. History will record who stood for credibility and who
sabotaged it.
The burden now lies squarely on the Senate, and the Nigerian people are watching.
Habib Sheidu is a public policy researcher and analyst and Project Director at AdvoKC
Foundation. He can be reached via [email protected].