The Senate has ruled out any amendment to the Electoral Act 2026 before the 2027 general elections, saying the law has already been passed and is currently guiding preparations for the polls.
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Senator Yemi Adaramodu, said there was no plan to review the legislation midway into the electoral process.
Adaramodu made this known in an interview with The PUNCH while reacting to the Supreme Court judgment which restored provisions of the Electoral Act dealing with political party membership registers and the nomination of candidates.
He said any proposed amendment would only be considered after the 2027 elections.
“We have already done the electoral reform and passed that one. It is meant for the 2027 elections. It is only after it that we can consider it for a review if there is any necessity or calls for amendments and rejigging. That’s when it can come up.”
The senator urged individuals or groups with objections to the law to submit their concerns to the National Assembly, stressing that the legislation had already received presidential assent.
“For us at the Senate and National Assembly, we have passed the Electoral Act into law. It has been assented to, and it is now in use.”
He argued that changing the electoral law while parties were already using it to prepare their candidates would amount to altering the rules in the middle of the process.
“As you know, it is through the Electoral Act that parties produced the candidates who will contest in January and February. So, are you now going to shift the goalposts in the middle of the game?”
Adaramodu added that the Senate would not halt the implementation of the law to introduce another version before the elections.
“How do you halt an Electoral Act that is already in use for a new one? We are not going to do that.”
The Senate position comes shortly after the Supreme Court restored Sections 77(5), 77(6), 77(7) and 84(2) of the Electoral Act 2026.
The provisions had earlier been declared unconstitutional by the Court of Appeal. However, a seven-member panel of the Supreme Court unanimously overturned that decision, ruling that the provisions were not inconsistent with the Constitution.
Sections 77(5) to 77(7) concern political parties’ membership registers and eligibility to participate in party primaries, while Section 84(2) provides for direct primaries and consensus as methods of selecting candidates.
The Supreme Court ruling has raised questions about the status of some candidates, particularly over party membership, waivers and the procedures through which they emerged as nominees.
However, some political parties have dismissed concerns that the judgment could threaten the candidacies of their nominees.
The Senate maintained that the Electoral Act 2026 would remain the legal framework for the 2027 elections and that any review of its provisions would have to wait until after the polls.
