Vote counts will be ensured with amended Electoral Act – Akpabio

By Goli Innocent

President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, on Wednesday declared that the newly signed Electoral Act 2026 (Amendment) will guarantee that every Nigerian vote counts, describing the law as a watershed in the country’s democratic journey.

Speaking shortly after President Bola Tinubu assented to the bill at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, Akpabio said the amendment squarely addresses long-standing complaints about manipulation of results between polling units and collation centres.

“At the end, Nigerians will benefit a lot from future elections. Every vote will now count,” he said, noting that for the first time since independence in 1960, Nigeria’s electoral law formally recognises electronic transmission of results.

According to him, the amended law mandates the upload of polling unit results to the Independent National Electoral Commission Result Viewing Portal (iREV), while retaining the EC8A forms signed by presiding officers, party agents and security personnel as the primary source of collation in areas with poor network coverage.

“We took cognisance of areas where there may not be any network… Once we step out towards the ward or local government centre, it will drop into the iREV and people will still be able to view,” Akpabio explained. He added that Nigerians can now compare uploaded results with figures collated at higher levels, making post-poll tampering virtually impossible.

The Senate President also revealed that the amendment introduces direct primaries for political parties to deepen internal democracy and mandates fresh elections where a declared winner is later disqualified by the courts, rather than handing victory to a runner-up. He dismissed claims of political pressure, insisting the National Assembly acted in line with public expectations.

The amendment comes amid preparations for the 2027 general elections, following criticism of the 2022 Electoral Act after technical glitches during the 2023 polls. With the new provisions in place, Akpabio expressed confidence that transparency, credibility and voter trust will define Nigeria’s next electoral cycle.