Last week, President Bola Tinubu signed into law the new 2026 Electoral Act. The new body of legislation introduces significant updates to Nigeria’s electoral framework, including revised spending limits, harsher rigging penalties, and other key revisions aimed at enhancing transparency and fairness ahead of future elections.
While the focus of many on the 2026 electoral act was mandatory real-time electronic transmission of results, there are many other revisions to the 2022 electoral act.
Increased Campaign Spending Limits
One of the most notable changes in the New 2026 Electoral Act is the substantial upward review of campaign spending caps under Section 92(1-8). Presidential candidates can now spend up to N10 billion, double the previous N5 billion limit.
Governorship aspirants face a ceiling of N3 billion, up from N1 billion. Other offices see similar increases: Senate candidates are limited to N500 million (from N100 million), House of Representatives to N250 million (from N70 million), State House of Assembly to N100 million (from N30 million), Area Council to N60 million (from N30 million), and councillorship to N10 million (from N5 million).
Lawmakers argue these adjustments reflect rising campaign costs, including logistics, media, and mobilization. Critics, however, contend that higher limits could favor wealthy candidates and entrench money politics, potentially disadvantageous to grassroots contenders.
Stricter Penalties for Rigging and Electoral Offences
The New 2026 Electoral Act imposes tougher sanctions to deter malpractices. Under Section 125(1-2), offences like vote buying, impersonation, and result manipulation now carry up to two years’ imprisonment, fines between N500,000 and N2 million, or both.
Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) who withhold certified documents face a minimum two-year jail term without a fine option, per Section 74(1), which requires release within 24 hours of payment.
Presiding officers who willfully block electronic result transmission risk six months’ imprisonment, a N500,000 fine, or both under Section 60(6). These measures aim to curb administrative impunity and enhance accountability.
Mandatory Electronic Transmission and Technology Upgrades
Electronic transmission of results to the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV) is now compulsory under Section 60(3). If transmission fails due to technical issues, physical result sheets (Form EC8A) serve as backup for collation.
The law mandates the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) for accreditation, replacing older smart card readers. Voters can download Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) directly from INEC’s website, simplifying access.
Prisoner Voting Rights
Another change in the new 2026 Electoral Act is explicitly recognizing the voting rights of eligible inmates. Under Sections 12(1)(d) and 12(2), prisoners can now register and vote, with their place of lawful imprisonment treated as their ordinary residence for registration purposes.
This resolves long-standing legal barriers related to residency requirements that previously excluded inmates from the process. INEC is now obligated to develop frameworks for voter registration and actual voting within correctional facilities, potentially enabling thousands of awaiting-trial inmates and others to participate in future polls.
Advocates view this as a boost to democratic inclusion and human rights, aligning Nigeria with global standards where eligible prisoners retain civic participation rights. Implementation will require coordination between INEC, correctional authorities, and security agencies to ensure secure, transparent voting in prisons.
Mandatory Digital Registers for Political Parties
The New 2026 Electoral Act introduces stricter internal party governance through compulsory digital membership registers. Political parties must now maintain comprehensive digital records of all members, incorporating details such as names, gender, date of birth, addresses, photographs, and National Identification Numbers (NIN).
Under Section 77, parties are required to issue membership cards and submit these registers to INEC at least 21 days before primaries, congresses, or conventions. Failure to comply results in disqualification from fielding candidates in elections. Parties cannot use any other register for nomination processes.
This measure aims to curb manipulation, candidate imposition, and factionalism by promoting verifiable, transparent membership data. It strengthens internal democracy, reduces disputes over delegate lists, and enhances accountability in candidate selection.
Flexible Timetables
To prevent scheduling conflicts with significant national periods, the New 2026 Electoral Act grants INEC more leeway in adjusting election notices. The mandatory publication of election notices has been reduced from 360 days to 300 days before polling day under the amended Clause 28.
This change provides a 60-day buffer, allowing INEC to shift dates if needed to avoid overlaps like the Ramadan fasting period, which had raised concerns about voter turnout, logistics, and inclusivity for the originally proposed 2027 dates. INEC has indicated it will review and release an updated timetable accordingly.
This was also contained in a statement issued by Opeyemi Bamidele, Senate leader.
The statement reads: “National Assembly Highlights Key Reforms in 2026 Electoral Act.
“The National Assembly, on Sunday, highlighted the creation of a dedicated fund for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), mandatory electronic transmission of election results, and creation of a digital membership register by all political parties, among others, as part of key reforms in the Electoral Act, 2026.
“The new electoral governance framework, according to the parliament, equally mandates the INEC to deploy a bimodal voters verification system (BVAS) for voters accreditation; recommends two-year jail imprisonment for the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) who withholds vital documents; establishes an electronic register of voters and reviews campaign funds for different elective offices.
“Leader of the Senate, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, provided the key highlights of the new regime in a statement released by his Directorate of Media and Public Affairs on Sunday, revealing how the legislative arm engaged diverse stakeholders for two years before its eventual enactment.
“The National Assembly had harmonised different versions of the Electoral Bill 2026 produced by its two Chambers, especially with respect to Clause 60(3); passed the Bill into law and transmitted it to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for assent to avoid a constitutional crisis that might arise in the preparation of the 2027 general election.
“The president subsequently signed the Electoral Bill 2026 into law after 24 hours of its enactment, thereby completing the two-year process of recrafting the new regime expected to shape the next elections positively.
“Although the civil society organisations (CSOs) had questioned the speed at which the Electoral Bill 2026 was signed into law, the president observed that the essence of democracy was designed to promote conversations aimed at deepening national development, nation-building, and stability of the federation.
“Contrary to insinuations in some quarters, Bamidele explained how the National Assembly sustainably engaged the CSOs, INEC, Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation (OAGF), and development partners, among others, for two consecutive years before the new electoral regime came into force.
“He said the making of the new regime “is a collective work that involves nearly all critical stakeholders. The National Assembly worked with such different stakeholders as OAGF, CSOs, INEC, and our development partners, among others, before we eventually completed the process.
“As we were making progress, the stakeholders too were making their input, and all the inputs were incorporated in the Act. In view of the time constraint we are facing now, I do not believe the Executive requires days or weeks to review it before assent, since we all contributed to it. Its outcome is not a unilateral effort of the parliament, but of Nigerians at large.”
“Consequently, Bamidele explained the potential of the new electoral governance framework to obviously strengthen institutional independence; enhance transparency in election management; improve technological integration and reinforce accountability mechanisms in the country’s election management system.”
