Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has accused the Senate of deliberately stalling efforts to amend the Electoral Act 2022, warning that further delays could undermine the credibility of the 2027 general elections.
In a statement posted on his X (formerly Twitter) account on Thursday, Atiku said loopholes in the current Electoral Act significantly undermined the 2023 elections, enabling widespread malpractice and making it extremely difficult for petitioners to prove electoral fraud in court.
“A major setback to the 2023 elections was the loopholes in the Electoral Act 2022 that paved the way for brazen rigging and made it nearly impossible for petitioners to advance their cases in the courts,” he said.
The former presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) stressed that urgent legislative intervention was necessary to prevent a repeat of those shortcomings in future polls, particularly in 2027.
“It is imperative that if the mistakes of the 2023 elections are to be corrected, the legal framework governing the conduct of the 2027 and subsequent elections must be reviewed,” he added.
‘Stalling reforms’
Atiku alleged that the Senate was intentionally blocking the passage of proposed amendments to the Act.
“As things stand, it has become obvious that the Senate is determined to frustrate the passage of amendments to the 2022 Electoral Act,” he said.
He warned that failure to amend the law well ahead of the next general elections would amount to a deliberate effort to compromise the electoral process.
“The credibility of the 2027 general elections hinges on the urgency with which the Senate treats this crucial bill,” Atiku said. “It is therefore imperative that the Senate finalises the amendments and ensures the updated law governs the conduct of the 2027 elections. Anything short of this is a deliberate attempt to rig the election long before the ballots are cast.”
The Electoral Act 2022, signed into law in February 2022, currently regulates the conduct of elections in Nigeria. The National Assembly is considering an Electoral Act Amendment Bill aimed at addressing shortcomings identified during the 2023 polls ahead of the 2027 general elections.
