…Opposition Warns of Plot to Rig 2027 Elections
…Presidency: Stop This Endless Lamentation
By Jeremy Fregene
Nigeria’s political arena erupted on Thursday as the Federal Government and some of the country’s most prominent opposition figures. including former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate Peter Obi , engaged in a fierce war of words over the controversial Electoral Act 2026, with accusations of dictatorship, rigging plots and misinformation flying across the aisle.
The dramatic exchange followed a high-powered opposition gathering in Abuja where leaders of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), alongside other political heavyweights, demanded an immediate overhaul of the amended law signed by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. The coalition described the Act as “anti-democratic,” warning that its implementation could subvert the will of the people in the 2027 general elections.
At the packed world press conference held at the Transcorp Hilton, opposition leaders including former Senate President David Mark, ADC National Secretary Rauf Aregbesola and former Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi accused the APC-led administration of inserting “loopholes” into the law to allegedly facilitate manipulation at the collation stage of elections.
Central to their objection is the provision allowing results recorded on Form EC8A to stand in the event of failed electronic transmission. The opposition argued that granting presiding officers discretion under the guise of network failure undermines the credibility of real-time transmission of results to the INEC Results Viewing Portal (IReV), which they insist was introduced to guarantee transparency.
They further alleged that limiting political parties to direct primaries and consensus arrangements amounts to unconstitutional interference in internal party affairs, claiming the move is designed to destabilise opposition parties and pave the way for what they termed a creeping one-party state ahead of 2027.
In a sweeping critique that extended beyond the Electoral Act, the coalition also cited the recent FCT local government elections as evidence of what they described as electoral manipulation, condemned rising political violence, and accused the judiciary of being weaponised against democracy. They demanded that the National Assembly immediately commence a fresh amendment process to expunge what they called “obnoxious provisions” from the law.
But the Presidency wasted no time in firing back. In a strongly worded State House press statement, the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, dismissed the opposition’s claims as reckless, spurious and deliberately misleading.
The Presidency maintained that the Electoral Act 2026 is a marked improvement on the repealed legislation, arguing that it strengthens safeguards while acknowledging practical challenges such as network disruptions. It insisted that IReV is merely a transparency platform for public viewing and not a collation centre, stressing that Form EC8 remains the primary legal instrument for validating election results.
On the contentious issue of party primaries, the Presidency defended the adoption of direct primaries and consensus voting, describing the delegate system preferred by some opposition parties as corruption-prone and vulnerable to manipulation. It argued that broader participation by party members enhances internal democracy and party ownership.
The Presidency also rejected allegations that President Tinubu harbours plans to turn Nigeria into a one-party state, noting that the country remains a vibrant multiparty democracy with more than a dozen registered political parties.
Accusing opposition leaders of habitual “lamentation and unwarranted outrage,” the government said they were merely protesting because “the rules of the game have been adjusted to prevent manipulation.”