From Hope to Doubt: New Electoral Law stirs anxiety as Utomi, Sowore, Igini, Osaze-Uzzi react

2026-02-21 - 04:26

By Luminous Jannamike, Abuja Last Thursday in Aso B, Mararaba, the sprawling border settlement between Abuja and Nasarawa State, 32-year-old Joshua Okoh sat on a plastic chair outside his one-room apartment, his phone glowing faintly in the dusk. He had queued for hours during the last general election, determined to play his part. He remembered the dust, the arguments, the hopeful chatter in the line. For him, voting was never just civic duty, it was belief. Now, reading that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had signed the Electoral Act 2026 into law, he slowly shook his head. “I still want to believe in the system. But honestly, news like this makes it harder to keep that faith,” he said quietly. For Okoh, the controversy is not about legal clauses or political talking points. It is about whether the long wait under the sun, and the fragile faith that carried him there, still counts for anything. Across Nigeria, millions are asking the same quiet question. A Signature That Ignited a Firestorm On Wednesday, President Tinubu assented to the Electoral Act 2022 (Repeal and Re-Enactment) Bill 2026 at the State House, Abuja, barely 24 hours after it cleared the National Assembly. The speed of the assent stunned observers and triggered backlash from opposition parties, civil society groups, analysts and ordinary citizens. At the centre of the storm is one contentious provision: the law permits electronic transmission of results from polling units but retains manual collation as a fallback where network failures occur. Supporters describe the approach as pragmatic. Critics say it opens the door to manipulation. Tinubu’s Case: Humans Still Matter Defending the law, Tinubu argued that democracy ultimately depends on human oversight. “It is time that we have confidence in our system. No matter how good a system is, it’s managed by the people, promoted by the people, and the result is finalised by the people,” the president said after signing. He warned against over-dependence on electronic systems, citing risks of glitches, interference and hacking, and questioned whether Nigeria’s broadband infrastructure is strong enough for fully digital collation nationwide. “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 announce the result,” he added. But in communities like Mararaba, where trust in institutions is already thin, that reassurance has struggled to calm nerves. Why Critics Remain Uneasy Election analysts say the hybrid structure could recreate controversies that shadowed previous polls. Telecom operators and election officials have repeatedly reported high levels of network coverage sufficient for basic result uploads. That is why many critics view the manual fallback not simply as caution, but as a potential structural vulnerability. For voters like Okoh, the issue is more personal than technical. “If there’s technology that can make elections more transparent, then we should be using it properly. That’s what many of us were hoping for,” he said. A Nation’s Confidence on the Line Across major cities and satellite towns, interviews with voters reveal a mix of fatigue, caution and simmering suspicion. Civil society organisations have also raised concerns about both the substance of the amendment and the speed of its passage, warning that public confidence in the electoral process could suffer if doubts are not addressed. PUBLIC REACTIONS Public responses to the Electoral Bill have been sharp and wide-ranging, reflecting both cautious support for having a legal framework in place and deep concern about transparency, trust, and the future of Nigeria’s electoral process. Igini to Tinubu: Remember the Democracy Struggle Mike Igini, former Resident Electoral Commissioner, appealed to the president’s democratic legacy, urging him to remember the sacrifices made during Nigeria’s pro-democracy struggles. “It is indeed my humble recommendation to Mr President that you are a man of history. You were a senior man to very many of us in the struggle at the time when the journey of Nigeria and the prospect of democracy was less certain. And also remember that, at a time when the PDP was in office and when we were in office, and they were saying that there was going to be a federal might, some of us stood out to say no,” Igini said. ACF Backs Urgency but Demands Full Disclosure Tukur Muhammad-Baba, National Publicity Secretary of the Arewa Consultative Forum, emphasised the urgency of putting an electoral law in place ahead of the next general elections but urged full disclosure of the bill’s contents. “The Electoral Bill, as assented to by the President, as hurried as it may seem, deals with processes of the electoral system which are time-bound. Given that we are just about a year to the 2027 general elections, the time to put the law in place is a critical, even non-negotiable step. The general public, including the ACF, has to date, only snippets of the bill. Outside of the contentious issue that emerged recently, that is, provisions regarding the mode of transmission of election results, we would like to see the contents of the full bill, warts and all.” Citizens Feel Let Down, Says Bello Maryam Bello, a public sector worker in Abuja, said many ordinary citizens feel disappointed that real-time electronic transmission was not fully embraced. “As a citizen, I feel let down that the call for real-time transmission of results was ignored. Many of us believed this reform would curb manipulation and rebuild confidence in elections. The speed with which the president signed the bill makes it seem like transparency may not be the top priority. It feels like our concerns didn’t really count. Honestly, the signing is a mixed bag. It’s positive that there’s now a legal framework for the next elections, but the controversy over manual transmission hasn’t gone away,” she said. PDP Alleges ‘Well-Choreographed Drama’ Ini Ememobong, National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party, alleged that the speed of the assent confirms what the opposition views as a coordinated political move. “The hurried grant of a presidential assent to the contentious bill as passed by both chambers of the National Assembly, despite the widespread opposition by Nigerians, is a confirmation of the fact that this was a well-choreographed drama by the APC. The party’s fear of the inevitable defeat from a free and fair election is palpable and they are unable to conceal it again. This is indeed a sad day for democracy. The Nigerian people have been dealt a bad card, which existentially threatens democracy,” he said. Young Voters Fear Step Backward Dennis Bawa, an undergraduate and first-time voter, framed the issue from a youth perspective, arguing that the decision could dampen enthusiasm among young Nigerians. “As a young voter, this feels like a step backward. Technology should be fully embraced, not pushed aside,” he stated. Civil Society Flags Democratic Concerns Jake Epelle, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of TAF Africa, said civil society groups recognise the passage of the law but remain troubled by the manner in which it was handled. “The speed and opacity raise serious concerns about transparency and the commitment to genuine electoral reform. Such an approach risks eroding public trust at a time when confidence in the electoral system remains fragile,” he said. Manual Fallback Could Be Abused — Osaze-Uzzi Oluwole Osaze-Uzzi, former Director at the Independent National Electoral Commission, expressed technical concerns, warning that the fallback to manual processes could become routinely abused. “Without sounding like a prophet of doom, I honestly think we are going to be haunted by the ghosts of the past because there has not been any significant change. If we say transmission fails and the presiding officer should revert to manual processes, this will become the norm. Presiding officers may be compelled to claim that there is no network in order to avoid electronic transmission. My expectations for the next election under the current legal framework are not particularly high. We should not expect anything fundamentally different from what happened in 2023 if these issues are not addressed.,” Osaze-Uzzi stated. NNPP: Assembly Acting as Rubber Stamp Ladipo Johnson, spokesperson of the New Nigeria Peoples Party, said the development reflects what he described as a pattern of legislative deference to the executive. “Well, I am not surprised that the bill passed as it did and that the president signed it into law immediately. Because if you look at the history, you would know that the National Assembly we have, the Senate, the House of Reps, are largely a rubber-stamped National Assembly. They probably do virtually everything that the presidency wants. They don’t care about that,” Johnson said. Utomi: ‘Freedom Has Been Murdered’ Pat Utomi, political economist and public commentator, delivered one of the most starkly worded reactions, portraying the development as a defining democratic moment. “The line is drawn. It is politicians in power versus the Nigerian people. Before us is life and death. Choose life that you may live. Back in the 1990s I put my life on the line that Nigeria may be free. Today it became clear that freedom has been murdered,” he said. Sowore Calls for Resistance Omoyele Sowore, activist and former presidential candidate, went further, characterising the law as a direct threat to credible elections. “Tinubu has now signed the 2026 ‘Electoral Act,’ a law designed to undermine and ultimately forbid free, fair, and credible elections in Nigeria. We must resist this assault on democracy,” Sowore stated. ActionAid Warns on Electoral Legitimacy Andrew Mamedu, Country Director of ActionAid Nigeria, stressed that the speed of passage undermined inclusive lawmaking and could weaken electoral legitimacy. “Such haste did not permit the patience, openness, and broad consultation that legislation of this magnitude demands... When citizens begin to believe that electoral rules are shaped without them or against their interests, the legitimacy of future elections becomes vulnerable. This is not a partisan matter. It is a matter of democratic survival and public trust,” he insisted. Elite Interests May Have Prevailed — Ojo Gbade Ojo, political scientist at the University of Ilorin, argued that the outcome appears to favor entrenched political interests. “The sense one gets is that the interest of the government elite has been protected, not necessarily that of the electorate,” he added. Warning of Potential Loopholes Bayo Ogunleye, public affairs commentator, concluded on a cautionary note, warning that loopholes in the new law could be exploited. “The bill will not be what the Nigerian masses will benefit from. There’s room now for games to be played,” he said. Back in Mararaba, the Quiet Question Later that night, Okoh locked his door against the noise of passing tricycles and lay down on his thin mattress. He says he will probably still vote in 2027. But the certainty he once carried , the belief that his vote would travel cleanly from the polling unit to the final tally, is beginning to thin. “If results don’t go through instantly the way they should. People will keep doubting the whole process,” he told Saturday Vanguard softly. For Nigeria’s democracy, that quiet doubt, growing in rooms like his across the country, may prove more consequential than any clause in the new law.