By Myke Uzendu, Abuja
Leaders of Nigeria’s major opposition political parties on Thursday issued a strong warning over what they described as anti-democratic provisions in the Electoral Act 2026, alleging that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) is working toward the “coronation” of President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 general elections.
At a world press conference held at Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja, the opposition leaders said they had come together out of a “shared aspiration to save Nigeria’s democracy” from what they termed an impending political crisis.
The parties in a text read by the National Chairman of New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), the opposition party expressed outrage over the recently amended Electoral Act, which was passed by the APC-led National Assembly and quickly assented to by President Tinubu. They claimed the law contains provisions capable of undermining electoral transparency and weakening democratic competition.
According to the opposition, Nigerians had earlier rejected aspects of the bill during public hearings and protests at the National Assembly, but the government allegedly ignored the concerns.
“We therefore state unequivocally that the new Electoral Act is anti-democratic, and its implementation will undermine electoral transparency and sanctity of the ballot which are fundamental to free, fair and credible elections and the bedrock of participatory democracy.
“This obnoxious Electoral Act, 2026 is without doubt enacted to undermine democracy in Nigeria and it is part of the on-going design by the Tinubu-led APC to disorganize and weaken opposition, corrupt the electoral system, compromise democratic institutions and foist a totalitarian one-party rule on Nigeria. Therefore, we, as patriotic leaders, standing shoulder to shoulder with Nigerians, reject the new Electoral Act for the following reasons” the group stated.
They pointed out that a major point of contention for the opposition is the proviso introduced in Section 60(3) of the Act, which they said grants “wide and undefined discretionary powers” to presiding officers.
The parties argued that the clause could be exploited to delay the electronic transmission of results from polling units under the pretext of network failure.
“The introduction of the proviso in Section 60(3), which allows wide and undefined discretionary powers to the presiding officer, overrides and negates the purpose of introducing electronic transmission of election results from polling units. This negation is unambiguously intended to provide a blank check to those who seek to manipulate election results by delaying the electronic transmission of results from the polling units to the IREV on the pretext of network failure”.
The opposition also faulted the amendment to Section 84 of the Act, which limits political parties to direct primaries and consensus in selecting candidates.
They said the provision amounts to legislative overreach into the internal affairs of political parties and could destabilize opposition platforms ahead of the next general election.
“Our position therefore is that as political parties we do not need legislation that prescribes what mode of party primaries political parties must adopt. In other words, the mode of nominating candidates should be strictly the internal affairs of political parties. There can only be one reason for this particular amendment: to create chaos and disorder in the ranks of opposition political parties in the hope that they would not be able to present a candidate and President Tinubu would be the only serious candidate in the 2027 Presidential election. What they are working towards is the coronation of Tinubu in 2027. Therefore, we find this amendment in bad faith and we reject it outrightly. In the coming days, we shall explore every constitutional means to cure this indirect hijack of the independence of political parties”.
The opposition further pointed to the recent Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Area Council elections as evidence of what they described as the APC’s broader electoral strategy.
They alleged that results declared in some areas exceeded the number of accredited voters and described the exercise as “disgustingly fraudulent.”
The parties also expressed concern over low voter turnout in the FCT polls — about 15 percent in the Area Councils and 7.2 percent in the Abuja Municipal Area Council — saying the figures reflect growing public distrust in the electoral process.
According to them, voter apathy is a “vote of no confidence” in Nigeria’s democracy and can only be reversed if citizens are convinced their votes will count.
The coalition condemned what it described as increasing political violence against opposition members, including a recent attack on leaders of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in Edo State and the reported killing of a party agent during the FCT election.
In their separate remarks, former governor of Rivers State, Chibuike Amaechi said that the political class has continued to perpetuate illegality because citizens have become very docile. He said that until citizens wake up to challenge those elected into offices, the ruling class will continue to take the people for a ride.
“Tinubu is not our problem, the opposition is the problem of the opposition. The first thing we must know is that we must separate ourselves from the government in power”.
The Presidential Candidate of Labour Party in 2023, Peter Obi said that opposition parties must come together to be able to unseat the government in power.
“There is a need for a genuine opposition party. Those who are not here today — we are pleading that we all come together to save our dear country.
“The government we have today and that continues is the worst ever in our country. There is no governance in Nigeria. The legislature is at its worst. The judiciary is no longer the hope of the weak or the poor”.
The event was attended by the leaders of major opposition parties including former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, National Chairman of African Democratic Congress (ADC) Sen. David Mark, Chieftain of NNPP Buba Galadimma, National Secretary of ADC Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, Senator Representing the Federal Capital Territory Ireti Kingbe and others.
