The National Chairman of the Action Democratic Party (ADP), Sani Yabagi, has criticised the newly signed Electoral Act 2026, describing it as “anti-people” and a threat to Nigeria’s democracy.
Attractions Media reports that President Bola Tinubu yesterday signed the law at the Presidential Villa in the presence of top government officials, including the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio; the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas; and the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila.
Also in attendance were Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele; Deputy Speaker, Benjamin Kalu, among others. Speaking after giving assent to the law, the president said the essence of democracy is to have very solid discussions committed to national development and nation-building, essential for the stability of the nation.
”I followed keenly what you were doing; the essence of Democracy is to have very solid brainstorming discussions committed to national development and nation-building, stability of the nation. It’s not as important as the history aspects of this. What is crucial is the fact that you managed the process to the extent there will be no confusion, no disenfranchisement of Nigerians, and that we are all going to see Democracy flourish.
“It’s time to 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. 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 will announce the final results.”
Expressing his views during an interview on African Independent Television’s Focus Nigeria programme, Yabagi argued that the amendment reintroduces discretionary powers that could permit interference in the electoral process.
“There was nothing fundamentally wrong with what we had before this amendment, except in a few areas,” Yabagi said. “But the most important aspect of that law was the discretion given to INEC, to manually interfere with the process.”
Yabagi acknowledged the role of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) in voter accreditation but insisted that the electronic transmission of results remains crucial to safeguarding electoral integrity.
“BVAS can confirm voters. But we needed something to confirm the winners,” he said. “The only time-stamped device that is incontrovertible anywhere, including in court, is transmission from the voting point.”
According to him, while many have described BVAS as a game-changer, the absence of a mandatory electronic transmission of results could undermine its effectiveness.
“Everybody keeps saying BVAS is a game-changer. Yes, but we need a game-changer too. If you keep making election results doubtful, it will affect democracy itself,” he added.
Yabagi also criticised provisions that allow a return to manual collation where network failures occur, arguing that such clauses weaken reforms aimed at curbing manipulation.
“To say that when the network fails, we should go back to the manual process is to make nonsense of everything we have talked about,” he said.
He further alleged that the All Progressives Congress (APC) was working to exploit potential network disruptions during elections.
Yabagi said, “When a political party is working against the interests of the people and their sovereignty, then it must be called out. The whole APC is working against the interests of Nigerians.”
The ADP chairman maintained that electoral malpractice often occurs during collation and the physical movement of results.
“What we all know is that election rigging takes place during collation, when results are moved from one place to another. That’s when people have the ability to change results,” he stated.
He warned that weakening electronic safeguards could place Nigeria’s democracy in a “precarious situation.”
“They are putting our democracy in danger. We call it democracy, but it is like a monarchical system, because every institution is in the hands of the man who is also contesting,” Yabagi said.
