The Nigerian Senate has moved to subject the proposed amendment of the Electoral Act, 2022 (Repeal and Enactment) Bill, 2026, to further internal scrutiny through an executive session on Thursday.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio announced the decision during Wednesday’s plenary after Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele requested that senators be allowed to take copies of the report prepared by the Senate Committee on Electoral Matters home for a detailed clause-by-clause study.
The Electoral Act amendment bill contains about 20 proposals to reform Nigeria’s electoral framework.
A major proposal seeks to make the permanent voter card (PVC) non-compulsory for voting. Under the proposed amendments to Sections 18 and 47, other forms of identification, including the National Identification Number (NIN), international passport, and birth certificate, could be used for voter accreditation, given that the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) does not depend on the PVC microchip.
Another key proposal seeks to amend Section 60(5) to make the electronic transmission of election results mandatory. Section 71(2) is also proposed to be amended to criminalise the distribution of unstamped or unsigned ballot papers and result sheets, with penalties of at least one year imprisonment, a fine of N1 million, or both, for any presiding or collation officer found culpable.
The bill further proposes an upward review of campaign spending limits across all elective offices. Presidential candidates would be allowed to spend up to N10 billion, up from N5 billion, while the cap for governorship candidates would rise from N1 billion to N3 billion.
Spending limits for senatorial candidates would increase from N100 million to N500 million, while those for House of Representatives candidates would increase from N70 million to N250 million.
For state houses of assembly candidates, the spending would rise from N30 million to N100 million. Local government chairmanship candidates would also be permitted to spend up to N100 million, while councillorship candidates’ limit would increase from N5 million to N10 million.
Although the House of Representatives has already passed the bill, in agreeing with Mr Bamidele’s request for further scrutiny, the Senate president said the upper chamber must avoid rushing legislation with far-reaching implications for Nigeria’s democratic process.
“This is a very important bill, considering the fact that we’re about to go into elections. If we rush it, we’ll meet at the tribunal. But if we do it right, then all Nigerians will smile that we have free and fair elections,” Mr Akpabio said.
The chairman of the Senate Committee on Electoral Matters, Simon Lalong, who was expected to present the committee’s report, was absent. His absence prompted a brief consultation among the Senate leadership, after which it was agreed that both the presentation and the debate be deferred to the next legislative day.
Mr Bamidele subsequently moved a motion to step down the bill until Thursday, explaining that a short closed-door session would precede public deliberation on the proposals. The motion was put to a voice vote and overwhelmingly adopted.