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By Lawrence Agbo
A public affairs analyst and member of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) National Working Committee, Kenneth Okonkwo, has accused the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) of using the Electoral Act to weaken opposition parties ahead of the 2027 elections.
Okonkwo alleged that the new electoral provisions are designed to “squeeze out” opposition parties from the political space.
He insisted that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had confirmed its technical capability and questioned what he called contradictions in the discussion surrounding the electronic transfer of results.
“INEC says they have the capacity to transmit, but you (APC), who don’t know anything, are saying INEC cannot transmit,” he said.
Despite claiming that electronic transmission of election results may be unrealistic, the ADC chieftain further accused the ruling party of setting up different standards by requiring political parties to submit digitalised membership data within a month.
“APC started their digitalised registration almost last year, and they now came to make it a law and said a month for parties. Some parties were registered just last month for the first time, and then you are giving them this herculean task that you cannot give INEC,” Okonkwo stated.
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He claimed that the ruling party was making a coordinated attempt to suppress other political parties.
“APC wants to snuff us (the opposition) out of the electoral process, and we are gasping for breath, but we will win,” he said. “They want to block all breathing space for the opposition so that they will kill the opposition.”
Additionally, Okonkwo asserted that the Electoral Act’s modifications represent what he called a deliberate plan to solidify political power prior to the holding of elections.
“What you are seeing is a conscious effort of a party that is unpopular, that knows it will lose if it allows a free, fair, and credible election, so they want to use institutionalised methods to rig the election before even the day of the election,” he alleged.
The ADC official also expressed concerns over the Electoral Act 2026’s openness, claiming that the law’s gazetted copy has not yet been made available to the general public.
“Up till now, the gazetted copy of the Electoral Act 2026 is not out; APC is intentionally hiding everything so that Nigerians do not even understand until it is too late,” he claimed.
Okonkwo further alleged that the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) election was conducted under what he described as an “unknown law.”
