On February 18, 2026, Nigeria’s new electoral act named 2026 Electoral Act came into effect, repealing the 2022 Electoral Act.
Following are quick facts about amendment contained in the new electoral act:
1.1 The 2026 Electoral Act came into effect on the 18th of February 2026 and it repealed the 2022 Electoral Act.
1.2 The Act comprises of Nine Parts and 156 Sections.
Part 1 (Sections 1 -7) is on establishment and functions of the Commission
Part II provides for the appointment of the Secretary and staff of the Commission.
Part III (Sections 9-23) is on the National Register of Voters and Voters Registration
Part IV (Sections 24-74) is on Procedure at elections
Part V (Sections 75-101) is on Political Parties
Part VI (Sections 102-117) is on Procedure for Election to Area Council
Part VII (Sections 118-133) talks about Electoral offences
Part VIII (Sections 134-143) is on Determination of Election Petitions arising from elections.
Part IX (Sections 144-156) is Miscellaneous provisions
1.3 Lastly, the 2026 Electoral Act contains the Schedules, referred to as First Schedule. By virtue of Section 143 of the Act, the Rules of Procedure for election petition is set out in the Act as First Schedule. The Schedule has 55 Rules as well as the various Forms used at the Election Tribunal and the Appeals arising therefrom. The First Schedule as the Rules of Procedure for Election Tribunal is complemented by Practice Direction issued by the President of the Court of Appeal as well as the Federal High Court Civil Procedure Rules
1.4 The 2026 Electoral Act has some peculiar features that makes it distinct from the previous Electoral Act.
1.5 First, it brought adjustments to timelines for electoral activities and statutory notices
1.6 Second, it makes provision for higher or stiffer penalties for electoral offences; almost the entire gamut of electoral offences in the Act has received an upward review of the penalties thereto. The Act has also introduced new electoral offences.
1.7 Third, the Act has made provisions aimed at bringing reforms into the activities of political parties and the process of emergence of candidates as party flag bearers.
1.8 Fourth, the Act has made provisions to promote the use of technology in the electoral process.
1.9 Fifth: The Act has made provisions aimed at curing certain mischief and or filling loopholes in our Electoral Law
2.0 RELEASE OF ELECTION FUNDS:
Section 3 (3) of the 2026 Act provides that election funds due to the Commission shall be released to the Commission not later than 6 months before the next general elections.
3.0 NOTICE OF ELECTION:
3.1 Section 28 of the 2026 Act provides that the Commission shall, not later than 300 days before the day appointed for holding an election under this Act, publish a notice in each state of the Federation and the FCT
(a) Stating the date of the election; and
(b) Appointing the place at which nomination papers are to be delivered
3.2 The notice shall be published in each constituency in respect of which an election is to be held. The 2026 Act has reduced the number of days of Notice of Election from 360 days to 300 days
4.0 SUBMISSION OF LIST AND PERSONAL PARTICULARS OF CANDIDATES:
4.1 Section 29 (1) of the 2026 Act provides that every political party shall not later than 120 days before the date appointed for a general election under this Act, submit to the Commission in the prescribed form, the list of the candidates the party proposes to sponsor at the elections, who shall have emerged from valid primaries conducted by the political party.
4.2 The List or information submitted by each candidate shall be accompanied by an affidavit sworn to by the candidate at the Federal High Court or State High Court indicating that he or she has fulfilled all the constitutional requirements for election into that office. This prescribed form is known as Form EC9, it was formerly FORM CF001.
4.3 Under section 29 (3) of the 2026 Act, the Commission shall within 21 days of the receipt of the personal particulars of the candidate, publish same in the Constituency where the candidate intends to contest the election.
5.0 PUBLICATION OF NAMES OF NOMINATED CANDIDATES
5.1 Section 32 of the 2026 Act provides that the Commission shall, at least 60 days before the day of the election, publish by displaying or causing to be displayed at the relevant office or offices of the Commission and on the Commission’s website, a statement of the full names and addresses of all candidates standing nominated
This is what is often referred to as final list of Candidates. It comes after the window for withdrawal of candidate has closed.
5.2 The 2026 Electoral Act provides that a candidate may withdraw his candidature and the political party that nominated him shall convey such withdrawal to the Commission not later than 90 days to the election.
6.0 FORMAT OF BALLOT PAPERS
6.1 Section 42 (3) of the 2026 Act provides that the Commission shall not later than 60 days to an election, invite in writing, a political party that nominated a candidate in the election to inspect its identity appearing on samples of relevant electoral materials proposed for the election and the political party may state in writing within 2 days of being so invited by the Commission that it approves or disapproves of its identity as it appears on the samples.
7.0 POLITICAL PARTIES ACTIVITIES AND PARTY PRIMARIES:
7.1 DIGITAL REGISTER OF MEMBERS
Section 77 (2) of the 2026 Act provides that a political party shall maintain a digital register of its members containing the name, sex, date of birth, address, State, Local Government, Ward, Polling unit, National Identification Number and photograph in both hard and soft copies
7.2 Upon registration, a membership card shall be issued to the member.
7.3 Each political party shall make such register available to the Commission not later than 21 days before the date fixed for party primaries, congresses and conventions.
7.4 Only members whose names are contained in the Register shall be eligible to vote and be voted for at party Primaries, congresses and conventions
7.5 A party who fails to submit its membership register within the time stipulated shall not be eligible to field a candidate for that election
NB: All these provisions were absent in the 2022 Electoral Act. Similarly, under the repealed Act, there was no penalty for failure to maintain and submit party register.
These new provisions are aimed at promoting transparency in nomination of candidates and internal democracy within the political parties.
8.0 OUSTER OF COURT JURISDICTION
8.1 Section 83 (5) of the 2026 Act, provides that No Court in Nigeria shall entertain jurisdiction over any suit or matter pertaining to the internal affairs of a political party. This is a statutory codification of the decisions of the Supreme court in a long line of cases including NDUKWE V. AYU (2023) 5NWLR PT. 1877, 309
9.0 ELIMINATION OF INDIRECT PRIMARIES
9.1 Section 84 (2) of the 2026 Act provides that the Procedure for nomination of candidates by political parties for the various elective positions shall be by direct primaries or consensus.
NB: This section eliminates Indirect Primaries contained in the 2022 Act. One of the drawbacks of indirect Primaries also referred to as the delegate system is that it promoted the institutionalisation of money politics and vote buying within the political parties’ candidates nomination process.
10.0 INCREASE IN CAMPAIGN EXPENDITURE
10.1 Section 92 of the 2026 Electoral Act increases the Maximum election expenses that a candidate can incur at an election.
10.2 For Presidential election, the maximum is 10 billion Naira. It was 5 billion naira under section 88 of the 2022 Act
10.3 For Governorship election, it is now 3 billion naira. It was 1 billion naira under the old Act
10.4 For Senate and House of Representatives, it is 500 million Naira and 250 million naira respectively. It was 100 million naira and 70 million naira respectively under the 2022 Act
10.5 For State House of Assembly, it is 100 million naira. It was 30 million naira under the repealed Act
10.6 For Chairmanship election in the Area Council, it is 100 million naira. It was 30 million naira under the 2022 Act
10.7 For Councillorship election in the Area Council, it is 10 million naira. It was 5 million naira under the 2022 Act
11.0 INCREASE IN AMOUNT AN INVIDUAL CAN DONATE TO A CANDIDATE:
11.1 Section 92 (8) An individual or other entity shall not donate to a candidate more than 500 million naira. The Maximum amount an individual could donate to a candidate under the 2022 Act was 50 million naira
11.2 STIFFER PENALTY FOR CONTRAVENTION OF LIMIT ON DONATION: Section 92 (10) provides that an individual who knowingly contravenes subsection 8 is liable on conviction to a fine of 5 times the amount donated in excess of the limit placed by the Commission. The 2022 Act provided for a penalty of a maximum fine of 500,000 or imprisonment for a term of 9 months or both 12.0 THE USE OF TECHNOLOGY:
12.1 MANDATORY USE OF BIMODAL VOTER ACCREDITATION SYSTEM
Section 47 (2) of the 2026 Act provides that to vote, the Presiding officer shall use a Bimodal Voter Accreditation System or any other technological device that may be prescribed by the Commission, for the accreditation of voters, to verify, confirm or authenticate the particulars of the intending voter in the manner prescribed by the commission.
NB: Under the Section 47 (2) of the 2022 Act it provided for the use of smart card reader or any other technological device.
By providing for BVAS expressly, the Act removes the ambiguity as to which technological device is to be used for accreditation.
12.2 Section 47 (1) of the 2026 Act provides that any person intending to vote shall present himself to the Presiding Officer for accreditation and shall provide permanent voter’s card. Under the 2022 Act a person intending to vote was to present himself with his voter’s card to the Presiding Officer for accreditation. No mention was made of Permanent Voter’s card.
12.3 The 2026 Act makes the use of Permanent Voters Act mandatory for accreditation to vote
13.0 CURING EXISTING MISCHIEF/FILLING LOOPHOLES:
13.1 LIMITATION OF GROUNDS FOR CHALLENGING AN ELECTION
Section 138 (1) of the 2026 Act provides that an election may be questioned on the grounds that the
(a) Election was invalid by reason of corrupt practices or non -compliance with the provisions of the Act, or
(b) Respondent was not duly elected by majority of lawful votes cast at the election
13.2 The 2026 Act removes the other ground which was contained in section134 (1) of the 2022 Act which is that at the time of the election, the person whose election is questioned was not qualified to contest the election. In other words, qualification to contest election which has been a ground for challenging an election is no longer a ground to question an election.
13.3 It is however important to note that under section 29 (5) of the 2026 Act, an Aspirant in a party primary can file a suit at the Federal High Court if he believes that the information and document submitted by the party’s candidate to the Commission in relation to his constitutional requirement to contest the election is false. What this means is that though qualification to contest election is not a ground to challenge an election, it is still a pre-election matter that the courts can entertain. Where the court determines that the information and document submitted by a candidate to the Commission is false as it relates to constitutional requirements to contest election, the court will issue an order disqualifying the candidate and the sponsoring political party.
14.0 RERUN ELECTION:
14.1 Under Section 29 (7), where the election has been held, the court shall direct the Commission to conduct a rerun among the candidates that contested the subject election except the candidate and the party so disqualified.
NB: This is a fundamental departure from what obtained under the 2022 Act. Under the 2022 Act, when a court issues an order disqualifying a candidate and his party, the court will declare the candidate with the second highest number of valid votes and who satisfies the constitutional requirement as winner of the election
15.0 MANDATORY TRANSMISSION OF RESULT INTO IREV PORTAL
15.1 Section 60 (3) of the 2026 Act provides that the Presiding Officer shall electronically transmit the result from each polling unit to IREV portal and such transmission shall be done after the prescribed FORM EC8A has been signed and stamped by the Presiding officer and or countersigned by the candidates or polling agents where available at the polling unit.
15.2 Provided that if the electronic transmission of the result fails as a result of communication failure, and it becomes impossible to transmit the result contained in FORM EC8A signed and stamped by the Presiding Officer and Countersigned by the candidates or polling agents where available at the polling unit, the FORM EC8A shall at all times remain the primary source of collation and declaration of the result.
15.3 By the literal rule of statutory interpretation, the following are the components of section 60(3)
i. It is compulsory for the Presiding Officer to electronically transmit result from the polling unit into the IREV portal after the results has been entered into FORM EC8A and the EC8A signed and stamped by the Presiding officer and countersigned by the candidates or polling agents where available at the polling unit.
ii. Where electronic transmission fails due to communication failure and it is impossible to transmit electronically the EC8A after it had been signed, stamped and countersigned, collation and declaration of the result shall proceed using the un- transmitted FORM EC 8A as Primary source for the collation and declaration of the result.
iii. No time frame has been stipulated by Section 60 (3) within which the EC8A is to be electronically transmitted after it had been signed, stamped and countersigned.
16.0 NARROWER POWER OF THE COMMISSION TO REVIEW DECLARATION OF RESULTS MADE BY COLLATION AND RETURNING OFFICERS.
16.1 Section 65 of the 2026 Act provides that the Commission shall have the power to within seven days, review the declaration and return where it receives report from its officials, and it is satisfied that a declaration or return may have been made
(a) Under duress
(b) Knowingly and willfully contrary to the procedures prescribed under section 62 (4) –(8) of this Act.
16.2 The procedures enumerated under Section 62 (4)-(8) require the collation or returning officer to collate and announce results of an election after subjecting same to verification and confirmation that the number of accredited voters stated on the collated results are correct and consistent with what is recorded and transmitted from BVAS and where there is dispute regarding collated result, the correctness of the result is determined by checking the original of the collated result for each polling unit.
16.3 The power of the Commission to review declaration of results under the New Act must be founded upon reports received from its officials showing that the returning/collation officer had made the declaration under duress or the declaration had been made contrary to the procedures prescribed under section 62 (4)-(8).
NB: This appears to limit and put confines within which the Commission can exercise the power. The Commission’s power to review declaration was wider under the 2022 Act. The 2022 Act provided that the Commission shall have power to review declaration and return where the Commission determines that the said declaration and return was not made voluntarily or was made contrary to the provisions of the law, regulations and guidelines and manual for the election. Under the old Act, the exercise of the Commission’s power was not contingent upon report received nor was it limited to violation of prescribed procedures of collation listed under a section of the Act.
17.0 SECRECY OF THE BALLOT FOR ALL CATEGORIES OF VOTERS INCLUDING PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES
17.1 Under section 54 of the 2026 Act, a voter with visual impairment or other form of disability may be accompanied into the polling unit by a person chosen by him or her and after informing the Presiding Officer may be permitted to be so accompanied into the voting compartment to be assisted to make his or her mark provided that no political party agent, candidate or party official shall be permitted to accompany a voter into the voting compartment.
This section bars party agents, candidates or party officials from acting as aids to the visually impaired for the purpose of casting their ballot.
17.2 The proviso to this section 54 is a new innovation brought about by the 2026 Act. The 2022 Act did not contain this proviso
18.0 STIFFER PENALTIES:
18.1 STIFFER PENALTY FOR RETURNING AND COLLATION OFFICERS WHO INTENTIONALLY COLLATE OR ANNOUNCE FALSE RESULT
18.2 Section 62 (9) provides that a returning officer or collation officer commits an offence if he intentionally collates or announces a false result and is liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term not less than 10 years without an option of fine.
18.3 Note that apart from the fact that there is no option of fine for a convict under the subsection, the 10 years term of imprisonment is the minimum, discretion is given to the Judge to give a longer sentence in deserving circumstances.
18.4 STIFFER PENALTY FOR PRESIDING OFFICER AND COLLATION OFFICER WHO FAIL TO STAMP AND SIGN BALLAOT PAPER AND RESULT SHEET ANNOUNCED BY THEM WITHOUT LAWFUL REASION:
18.5 Under Section 71 (2) Every Presiding Officer and Collation Officer who Fails to Stamp and Sign Ballot Paper and Result Sheet announced by them Without Lawful Reason commits an offence and is liable on conviction to imprisonment for a minimum term of 3 years without an option of fine. This provision did not exist under the 2022 Act.
18.6 STIFFER PENALTY FOR RESIDENT ELECTORAL COMMISSIONERS
18.7 Under Section 74 (2) A Resident Electoral Commissioner who fails to issue Certified True Copy of election document to an applicant within the stipulated 14 days after payment of the prescribed fee commits an offence and is liable on conviction to imprisonment for a minimum term of two years without an option of fine.
18.8 STIFFER PENALTY FOR UNLAWFUL POSSESSION OF VOTERS CARD, BUYING AND SELLING OF VOTER’S CARD, BUYING AND SELLING OF VOTES
18.9 Section 22 (1) of the 2026 Act provides that anyone who is in unlawful possession of Voters card, sells or attempts to sell voter’s card, buys or offers to buy, sells or offers to sell votes commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine of not less than 5 million naira or imprisonment to a term of not less than 2 years or both and shall not be eligible to stand for election in Nigeria for a period of at least 10 years.
NB: Under the 2022 Act, the penalty was a fine of NOT MORE THAN N500,000 or imprisonment of NOT MORE THAN 2 years or both. Whereas it was not more than N500,000 fine and not more than 2 years term of imprisonment, now its not LESS than 5 million naira and not LESS than a term of 2 years.
Further, is the addition of ineligibility to stand for election in Nigeria for 10years. This is akin to the Constitutional disqualification for persons convicted for offences involving dishonesty or code of conduct. See for example Section 107 of the 1999 Constitution as amended.
*Source: INEC