Olushola Omogbehin
Following a proposal by the National Assembly to move Nigeria’s general elections six months earlier than usual, the national assembly has proposed ahead of the 2027 general election that presidential and governorship elections may be held in November 2026.
The proposal is contained in draft amendments to the 2022 Electoral Act, which currently states that elections into both offices must be held not later than 185 days before the expiration of the incumbent’s tenure on May 29.
The draft amendments came to the fore on Monday during a one-day public hearing organised by the joint committee of the senate and the house of representatives on electoral matters.
According to the draft, Section 4 (7) now provides that “elections into the office of the president and governor of a state shall be held not later than 185 days before the expiration of the term of office of the last holder of the office.”
Mathematically, 185 days before May 29, 2027, falls in November 2026, since the number of days from May 28, 2027, to December 1, 2026, is 180.
Chairman of the House Committee on Electoral Matters, Hon. Adebayo Balogun, explained that the move is designed to “ensure that all manner of election litigations are dispensed with before the swearing in of winners.”
He said that appellate courts would have 90 days to deliver judgment, while the Supreme Court would have up to 60 days — all within the 185-day window.
For legislative elections, section 4 (5) of the proposed amendment provides that “elections into the state houses of assembly and the national assembly shall be held not later than 185 days before the date on which each of the houses stands dissolved.”
Other key proposals include early voting for certain categories of Nigerians — such as security personnel, INEC staff, accredited journalists, and observers — at least 14 days before election day.
On early voting, Section 2 provides that “not later than 14 days before the day of the election,” to accommodate security personnel, INEC officials, accredited observers, journalists and ad hoc staff.
Importantly, the amendment also seeks to make the electronic transmission of results mandatory, with penalties for non-compliance.
The proposed Section 60(5) in the above direction reads, “The Presiding Officer shall transmit the results, including the total number of accredited voters, to the next level of collation both electronically and manually.”
Stakeholders at the hearing, including Abdullahi Zuru, who represented the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), endorsed the proposals, particularly the push for electronic voting and electronic transmission of results to strengthen transparency.
