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Barring any alterations to the proposal by the National Assembly on the amendment to the 2022 Electoral Act, the presidential, governorship as well as national and state assembly elections will hold in or before November next year.
This forms the highlight of the bill seeking to repeal the Electoral Act 2022 to enact a new Electoral Act 2025.
Following a one-day public hearing by the Joint Committee on Electoral Matters chaired by Senator Simon Lalong, concerns have been raised across the board about the propriety, feasibility, and logic behind the idea of moving the date forward, with stakeholders, political parties, civil society organisations (CSOs), and electoral experts wading in.
The amendment proposal was contained in the Reviewed Highlights of the Amendment of the Electoral Act obtained by Daily Trust during a public hearing in Abuja. It stipulates that elections into the offices of the president and governors must be conducted “not later than 185 days before the expiration of the term of office of the last holder of the office.”
According to the draft, the provision also extends to elections into the National Assembly and state Houses of Assembly, which must now be held “not later than 185 days before the date on which each of the Houses stands dissolved.”
It adds that where a vacancy occurs in any of the Houses more than 90 days before the general elections, such vacancy must be filled within 30 days of its occurrence. The amendment also seeks to align the new electoral calendar with constitutional changes to Sections 76, 116, 132, and 178, which now delegate election timelines to the Electoral Act rather than the Constitution.
Before the public hearing, Weekend Trust confirmed that politicians, especially those hoping to seek elective offices in 2027, had taken it for granted that the next general elections would follow a similar pattern as previous ones, to hold either in February or March in the year of inauguration.
An aspirant said, “All our focus was on 2027 because that is the tradition, to hold the election in the year in which the tenure of the incumbents expires.”
In the last general polls, the governorship and presidential elections were conducted in February and March 2023 respectively.
Though there are other areas in the 2025 Act which seek to differ from that of 2023, the concentration has been on that particular aspect due to the effect it is likely to have on the electoral system in Nigeria.
For instance, it is also being proposed that amendments be made to allow security personnel, INEC officials, accredited journalists, observers, and ad-hoc staff to vote up to 14 days before election day.
The bill also seeks the removal of election timelines from the Constitution and their inclusion in the Electoral Act to make future adjustments more flexible.
While some are happy about the development, saying the moving of election day to 2026 will give enough time for legal issues to be settled ahead of the inauguration of new administrations, some have kicked against it, saying it would only favour incumbents, adding that it is bound to have negative effects on governance.
Chairman of the House Committee on Electoral Matters, Adebayo Balogun, said the amendment would help prevent situations where court cases linger after winners assume office.
“We are proposing that all election litigations be concluded before the swearing-in of declared winners. To achieve this, we are recommending that the current 180 days allowed for tribunal judgments be reduced to 90 days, while appellate and Supreme Court decisions should each take no more than 60 days, all within 185 days before inauguration,” he said.
In what is suspected to be a reaction to the wide interest the bill has generated, the Senate on Thursday stepped down the bill, which had earlier been slated for consideration, saying the lawmakers needed more time for wider consultations and a deeper understanding of its provisions.
The Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, who presided over the Thursday session, said sufficient details on the general principles of the bill were not given and suggested an executive session to consider it.
There were also concerns earlier raised by Senator Binos Dauda Yaroe on the procedure, wondering why a bill which has yet to scale second reading went through a public hearing.
“I support the second reading of this bill. But people will wonder. The second reading is supposed to come before the public hearing that was done last Monday. Holding a public hearing before second reading is confusing,” he said.
Following similar observations by other senators, the bill was stepped down to allow the legislators to consult widely on it.
Before then, the proposal had elicited a wide range of reactions from the political class, election monitoring bodies, and the general public.
The African Democratic Congress (ADC), in a swift reaction, kicked against moving the general elections backward, saying doing so would undermine governance.
In a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, the party argued that advancing the election date implies a perpetual campaign cycle, a short period for effective governance, and disruption in development planning, and further weakening of institutional focus.
The party said, in practice, elections happening in November 2026 mean campaigns will begin as early as 2025, which leaves barely one year of real governance before politics takes over.
“The president, ministers, governors, and other public officials vying for office or campaigning for others will shift their focus from performance to positioning. Policies will stall, projects will be abandoned, and the entire system will tilt towards 2026 instead of 2027.
“The solution lies in strengthening our institutions by enforcing strict timelines for tribunals, reforming electoral laws, and improving the capacity of the judiciary and INEC,” the party stated.
On their part, the factions of the Labour Party differed on the proposal. While the faction led by Julius Abure said the party is fully prepared for the exercise if it holds next year, the Lamidi Apapa-led faction dismissed the idea as unconstitutional and premature.
National Publicity Secretary of the Abure-led faction, Obiora Ifoh, said the party is “100 percent ready” for any election conducted within the timeframe allowed by law. “We are ready for any election, even if it comes in November 2026. But that is not even the problem. The real issue is for INEC to put its act together and address the lapses we witnessed during the 2023 elections,” he said.
He said the Electoral Act provides flexibility on the election timetable as long as the polls are held within 60 to 150 days before the expiration of the incumbent’s tenure.
“The constitution is very clear; between 60 and 150 days before the end of tenure. November to May is about five months, so it doesn’t violate any law,” he explained. “INEC just needs to get its timetable right and ensure proper management of the process,” he said.
However, the coordinator of the Obidient Movement, Yunusa Tanko, faulted the proposal, saying it contradicts the constitutionally guaranteed four-year term of elected officeholders.
“Does it mean they will hold the election before the tenure of the current officeholders expires?” Tanko queried. “It’s confusing. What happens to the remaining months of their term? The constitution provides for four years, not three.”
He argued that the plan was “too sudden” and lacked clarity on its legal and practical implications.
“Nobody is ready for an election except those proposing it. If they want to amend the constitution to shorten the election cycle, it should apply to the next one, not this one. Doing it now doesn’t make sense,” he said.
Efforts to get reactions from the major opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), yesterday proved abortive.
The New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) spokesperson, Ladipo Johnson, also reacted to the proposal, describing it as “a good idea coming at the wrong time.”
The spokesperson of the party noted that while the intention behind the amendment could help resolve post-election litigations before the swearing-in of winners, the timing of the move would put opposition parties at a disadvantage.
“Ordinarily, it would be a very good idea so that litigation would be over before swearing-in,” he said. But at the present moment, it is coming late because it will shortchange parties. They will not have enough time to prepare, campaign, and reach the electorate, especially the opposition,” he said.
He explained that most political parties had already based their programmes and campaign strategies on the 2027 election calendar.
“Most people have planned that elections will hold in 2027. If you now shorten it to November 2026, they lose several months of preparation,” he added.
The Director of the Abuja School of Social and Political Thoughts, Dr. Sam Amadi, has hinted that the planned amendment to the election timeline in the country may favor the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Amadi told Weekend Trust that his position is because the opposition parties are undergoing severe crises at this time, adding that the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC also needs to convince Nigerians that it has done a cost-benefit analysis that favors bringing backward the election timeline.
He said all the stakeholders must also agree that there is no extension or reduction in the tenure of elected officials and there is enough time for robust campaign.
He said, “I do not see the problem if it does not breach any provisions of the law and it does not reduce the tenure of elected officials. But INEC should first convince us that it has done a cost-benefit analysis that favors bringing backward the election timeline. “As long as the commission is acting in good faith and there is enough time for robust campaign it can go ahead and reschedule election dates. There should be no extension or reduction of tenure of elected officials.”
When contacted for the position of the umpire, the Deputy Director of Publicity at the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Wilfred Osilama Ifogah, said the commission has not taken any decision regarding the conduct of elections next year.
“We’re not there yet,” he told Weekend Trust, declining to speak further on the matter.
Chairman of the House Committee on Electoral Matters explained that so far, the House of Representatives has not taken a position on the proposed amendments. He said, “We cannot be speculative. It is a proposal; it is an ongoing thing. Until you do the consideration and third reading, that is when it becomes a position of the House.
“So, everything is still speculative for now. There is no need for agitation by people. The documents were circulated to the people at the public hearing. It is until we consider it and we get the final report out that it becomes a decision. The documents are explicit enough.”
The Executive Director of YIAGA Africa, Mr Samson Itodo, said the organisation is in support of the proposal because it has many advantages outside settling all disputes arising from elections.
“It provides clarity for INEC and for other institutions so that they don’t also get distracted, you know, with the whole business of settling down. It gives the institution the opportunity to conclude everything that it has to do with the post-election audit. And that can be done devoid of any sort of pressure or political interference.
“Secondly, it does provide some level of clarity, even for the other security agencies, because when you conclude an election, they have time to settle and plan before swearing-in. Once the disputes are being resolved, the coast becomes clearer for all the actors to know where they stand before they get into office.”
Despite the interest, however, it appears that the bill will not receive an accelerated hearing now that it has been stepped down for further consultations. Added to that, a lot, Weekend Trust learnt, would depend on the outcome of the constitution review process which is currently ongoing.
Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Electoral Matters, in an interview with our correspondent, said his committee is working together with the constitution review committee to ensure synergy.
“The Electoral Act is also dragging a bit because of the constitution review. We are waiting for that because we know some of those things are still subject to the provisions of the constitution. Had it been we were not subjected to it, we would have concluded our own probably since last month. Our own does not need to go to the states. After this, we can go for third reading in the next one week and pass it, but because of their own issues, we have to slow down.”
If the amendment sails through, there are fears that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) may find it hard to cope, given that it has lots of off-cycle elections to conduct before 2027, some of which are the Anambra, Osun, and Ekiti governorship elections as well as the FCT council elections holding next year.
Former Minister of Sports, Solomon Dalung, alleged that the government wants to overload INEC so that it could be blamed for glitches.
“What is playing out is that the party in government is not sure of coming back, so it wants to blame INEC for poor logistic arrangements,” he said.
