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Electoral Act 2026: 2-Year Prison Term For RECs Over Result Manipulation
The National Assembly has officially rolled out the Electoral Act 2026, introducing aggressive reforms aimed at securing the 2027 general elections.
Key highlights include a two-year prison sentence for any INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) who refuses to release essential election documents, and the launch of a dedicated fund to bolster the commission’s financial independence.
These changes, detailed by Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele on Sunday, come amid heavy pushback from opposition parties. Critics argue that the new rules specifically those regarding candidate primaries, campaign spending, and election schedules are unfairly structured to benefit the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Bamidele’s attempt to highlight the benefits of the electoral reform comes barely 24 hours after opposition parties fumed that provisions in the 2026 Act on primaries, campaign funding, and election timelines tilted the playing field in favour of the ruling All Progressives Congress.
While the Presidency and the APC have defended the amendments as necessary reforms to deepen democracy and strengthen electoral integrity, opposition figures insisted the changes were skewed to weaken political competition.
The Senate leader, however, argued that there were several merits that many Nigerians were not considering in the new Electoral Act.
He said, “The new electoral governance framework equally mandates the INEC to deploy a Bimodal Voters Accreditation System; recommend two-year jail imprisonment for the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) who withholds vital documents; establish an electronic register of voters and review campaign funds upward for different elective offices.”
The Electoral Bill 2026 was harmonised by both chambers of the National Assembly — particularly over contentious Clause 60(3) — before it was transmitted to President Bola Tinubu for assent to avert any constitutional crisis in the build-up to the next general election.
The President signed the bill into law within 24 hours of its passage, completing what lawmakers described as a painstaking two-year process of recrafting Nigeria’s electoral framework.
Although some civil society organisations questioned the speed of the presidential assent, the Senate leadership maintained that the process had been inclusive and exhaustive.
According to Bamidele, the making of the new regime “is a collective work that involves nearly all critical stakeholders. The National Assembly worked with such different stakeholders as OAGF, CSOs, INEC and our development partners, among others, before we eventually completed the process.
“As we were making progress, the stakeholders too were making their input, and all the inputs were incorporated in the Act.
“In view of the time constraint we are facing now, I do not believe the Executive requires days or weeks to review it before assent since we all contributed to it. Its outcome is not a unilateral effort of the parliament, but of Nigerians at large,” he stated.
Under Section 3 of the new law, a dedicated fund has been established for INEC to ensure financial autonomy, operational stability and administrative continuity.
The provision also mandates that election funds be released at least six months before a general election.
With this measure, Bamidele said INEC would operate with greater independence and quicker corrective powers, including expanded authority to review questionable result declarations made under duress or procedural violations.
He noted that the new framework is “designed to strengthen institutional independence, enhance transparency in election management, improve technological integration, and reinforce accountability mechanisms in the country’s electoral system.”
Section 60(3) now makes electronic transmission of results to the INEC Result Viewing Portal mandatory, while Section 60(6) prescribes “a six-month imprisonment or a fine of N500,000 or both against any presiding officer who willfully frustrates the electronic transmission of election results.”
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Bamidele said, “This provision is consistent with the public demands. It also stipulates another measure of consequence if any presiding officer refuses to electronically transmit the results from each polling unit to IREV.
“We must equally understand that iRev is not a collation platform. It was designed to enhance transparency in our electoral process. An electronic collating system is a project that requires its own planning,” Bamidele clarified.
He explained further that the law conditionally permitted a resort to Form EC8A where electronic transmission failed due to communication challenges, as prescribed by INEC.
In a move aimed at curbing administrative bottlenecks and electoral impunity, Section 74(1) mandates a REC to release a certified true copy of any requested document within 24 hours after payment. Failure to comply attracts a minimum imprisonment of two years without the option of a fine.
Similarly, Section 72(2) provides that a certified true copy of a court order shall suffice for swearing in any candidate declared a winner by the court where INEC fails or neglects to issue a certificate of return.
Under Section 125(1-2), the Act stiffens penalties against vote-buying, impersonation and result manipulation, recommending a two-year imprisonment or a fine ranging between N500,000 and N2m both upon conviction.
Unlike the repealed 2022 Electoral Act, the new law phases out indirect primaries, retaining only direct and consensus primaries under Section 84(1-2) to broaden participation and curb the monetisation of party delegates.
Section 77(1-7) further mandates political parties to maintain a digital register of members, issue membership cards, and submit such registers to INEC at least 21 days before primaries, congresses or conventions.
A political party “shall not use any other register for party primaries, congresses and conventions than the register submitted to the INEC.
“Besides, any political party that fails to submit the membership register within the stipulated time shall not be eligible to field a candidate for that election.
“These are indeed consequential restraint measures that will deepen internal democracy and reduce the monetisation of politics in the country,” Bamidele said.
The new regime also reviews the spending limits for elective offices under Section 92(1-8).
Bamidele said, “The presidential spending cap has been raised from N5bn to N10bn; governorship from N1bn to N3bn; Senate from N500m to N1bn; House of Representatives from N70m to N250m; House of Assembly from N30m to N100m; Area Council from N30m to N60m; and councillorship from N5m to N10m.”
Other notable provisions include gender-sensitive queue arrangements in areas where culture requires separation of men and women, support mechanisms for persons with visual impairment, and a N10m fine for political parties that fail to submit accurate audited returns within the stipulated period.
Summing up the impact of the reforms, the Senate leader declared: “The Electoral Act, 2026, represents a consolidation and refinement of the country’s electoral governance framework. In all, the Act seeks to enhance electoral credibility, reduce disputes, and strengthen democratic governance in Nigeria.
“The Act emphasises financial and operational independence of INEC; technological integration with procedural safeguards; transparency in collation and declaration; stricter penalties for electoral offences and stronger regulation of political parties.”
The Lagos State Government has officially announced the reintroduction of the monthly environmental sanitation exercise, set to resume on Saturday, April 25, 2026.
This marks the return of the state-wide cleaning culture nearly ten years after its suspension in 2016.
Residents are expected to clean their surroundings, clear drainage channels in front of their homes, and dispose of waste responsibly as part of efforts to improve environmental hygiene and tackle waste management challenges.
The Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, on Saturday, disclosed the development in a statement, explaining that the exercise would officially restart later in the year.
“I am pleased to inform all Lagosians that the monthly environmental sanitation exercise will resume effective Saturday, 25th April 2026, holding on the last Saturday of every month from 6:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m.
“During this period, residents are enjoined to clean their surroundings, clear drainage channels in their frontages, and dispose of waste properly as a civic responsibility.”
Wahab urged residents to view the initiative as a shared duty toward building a healthier city, stressing that the government would ensure strict compliance.
“This exercise is a collective responsibility and a vital part of our commitment to a cleaner, healthier, and flood-resilient Lagos. And it shall be backed with the full enforcement weight of the Lagos State Government,” he said.
Explaining the significance of reintroducing the sanitation culture, the commissioner said the state was returning to a practice that once formed part of Lagosians’ lifestyle.
“Let me formally say this and say it boldly. Mr Governor and his deputy are taking a very audacious step. For those who don’t know, prior to 2016, we had a culture that emphasised cleanliness as next to godliness.
“Once every month, we took our time to clean up our surroundings and then maintain them sparkling. However, for some years, we stopped it.”
He said the absence of the exercise had contributed to mounting environmental pressures in the state.
“Now, waste, debt, and environmental challenges have become an existential challenge to us as a state. It’s taken us over a year to debate, talk, and agree that it’s time to reintroduce a monthly environmental sanitation,” Wahab said.
Appealing to residents for cooperation, he urged Lagosians to dedicate a small portion of their time each month to environmental cleanliness.
“It’s a plea that it is time for us to give up just one or two hours a month. In our marketplaces, every Thursday, we observe environmental cleanliness. But this time, we are saying as a state, let us sit back once a month and observe the cleanliness of our environment as we used to before 2016.”
JomogNews reports that the monthly sanitation exercise, previously held on the last Saturday of every month between 7 a.m. and 10 a.m., was suspended in November 2016 following a legal pronouncement restricting movement during the exercise.
The suspension later coincided with growing waste management concerns, including clogged drainage channels and indiscriminate refuse disposal across parts of the state.
President Bola Tinubu has urged the media to extend their scrutiny to State and Local Governments, noting that his administration’s reforms have significantly increased their financial allocations.
During an interfaith breaking of fast with media executives on Friday, the President emphasized that sub-national governments now enjoy greater financial autonomy and should be held accountable for grassroots development.
Tinubu said his administration’s economic reforms, especially the removal of the petrol subsidy, have increased funds available to states.
“We have opened up the principle of federalism to the extent that local governments are now getting their money. But how they use it is in your hands, so don’t bombard me alone. Look at local governments too, and equally, the sub-national,” Tinubu said.
“Today, there is no state that is borrowing to pay the salaries of employees. Yes, we can complain that it is not enough. We can complain we are not where we should be, but we have to manage what we have to sustain today, survive tomorrow, and make progress”.
Tinubu commended the media for criticising his government, saying it challenged and provoked him to serve Nigerians better.
“Thank you for inspiring me and challenging me in critical moments of my life. If I look at various barrages of negative comments as opposed to positive aspects of the assignment, I shouldn’t be standing here. That is the truth,” the president said.
“You didn’t spare me, but you challenged me, provoked that intellectual curiosity of a leader that must perform. There is no morning that I ever leave my house without going through the newspapers. It’s an addiction. I read all of you, it might not be in full detail, but the headlines, the ones that hit me.
“Leadership is about taking responsibility to make decisions at the right time. Otherwise, it’s a failure. At the time, we had to confront the subsidy. Nigeria was on the verge of bankruptcy.
“But having asked for the job and getting it, I cannot look back other than make corrections as I move along, save the nation, bring it back from the brink. Today, I can stand proudly before you that we are back from that brink.”
Tinubu added that he will continue to do his job with “patriotic dedication” to improve Nigeria.
A prosecution witness, Captain Ezekiel Bala-Agaba, testified in a Lagos Federal High Court on Thursday, that he personally delivered $15 million in cash to former NIMASA DG, Patrick Akpobolokemi.
The witness, Bala-Agaba, a former Executive Director of Maritime Safety, Shipping Development and Marine Operations at NIMASA, made the disclosure while testifying before Justice Ayokunle Faji of the Federal High Court in Lagos.
Captain Agaba, who appeared as the 15th prosecution witness, told the court that funds meant for pipeline surveillance were withdrawn from NIMASA’s accounts, converted into dollars, and handed over to Dr Akpobolokemi.
According to him, the money was taken to a Bureau de Change, which converted it into $15 million before the cash was delivered to the NIMASA office on Burma Road, Apapa, Lagos.
He said he subsequently took the money to the office of the then Director-General.
“The money was sent to a Bureau de Change, which later brought the dollar equivalent to our office at Burma Road, Apapa, Lagos. I asked my Personal Assistant, Ekene Nwakuche, to carry the bag and follow me to the Director-General’s office,” he told the court.
The witness explained that he collected the bag from his aide before entering the office.
“When we got to the door of the Director-General’s office, I collected the bag from him and asked him to wait outside. I then personally delivered the sum of $15 million to the Director-General.”
The witness was initially a defendant in the case but later opted to testify for the prosecution.
While being led in evidence by prosecuting counsel, Suleiman Suleiman, he explained the chain of command within NIMASA and how financial approvals were processed in the agency.
According to him, the Director-General is the overall head of the agency and issues instructions to directors, who then implement policies in line with the NIMASA Act.
He told the court that he chaired the agency’s Intelligence Committee, which was responsible for certain security-related operations.
“As chairman of the committee, I oversaw its activities and reported directly to the Director-General, Dr. Patrick Akpobolokemi,” he said.
During the proceedings, the witness was also shown a document containing a letter from Access Bank to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) detailing transactions in NIMASA’s accounts between 2013 and 2015.
When asked how much money he took to the former Director-General, Agaba replied: “$15 million.”
After listening to the testimony, Justice Faji adjourned the matter until April 22 and 23 for cross-examination of the witness.
The EFCC had in December 2015 arraigned Dr. Akpobolokemi and seven others before the court on a 30-count charge bordering on conspiracy, fraudulent conversion of funds and money laundering.
Those charged alongside the former NIMASA boss include, Warredi Enisuoh, Governor Juan, Ugo Frederick, Timi Alari, as well as Alkenzo Limited and Penniel Engineering Services Limited.
They pleaded not guilty to the offences.
The anti-graft agency alleged that the defendants conspired to divert funds running into over N1.15 billion under the guise of providing security intelligence in Nigeria’s maritime domain.
According to the EFCC, the NIMASA Intelligence Committee allegedly received N1,153,000,000 between December 2013 and July 2015.
Investigations further revealed that several companies contracted to execute the intelligence operations were either unregistered or lacked the capacity to perform the services, while some were allegedly linked to the defendants.
The prosecution also alleged that the defendants nominated or owned many of the companies used to execute the contracts.
One of the charges stated that the defendants conspired to commit offences punishable under the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2012.
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