Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has urged the Nationwide Meeting of Nigeria to urgently amend the Electoral Act, warning {that a} controversial provision might allow poll manipulation and erode public belief in elections.
In a press release issued Wednesday by his aide, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku criticised Part 63 of the legislation, which allows a returning officer to depend poll papers missing official marks at their discretion.
He argued that such latitude introduces subjectivity right into a course of that calls for strict requirements.
“The management of the Nationwide Meeting ought to have been extra cautious than informal in dealing with provisions that contact the very coronary heart of our democracy,” he mentioned.
In response to the previous vp, lawmakers didn’t train ample warning in safeguarding the integrity of the electoral framework. He careworn {that a} poll paper is a authorized instrument whose validity have to be clear-cut, not left to interpretation.
“A poll paper will not be an atypical piece of paper—it’s a authorized instrument whose authenticity is central to the credibility of your complete electoral course of,” he mentioned.
Atiku described the clause as a direct threat to electoral credibility, noting that permitting discretionary judgment on poll validity creates openings for abuse and will finally distort the need of voters.
“This isn’t a minor technical problem—it’s a direct threat to electoral integrity.”
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He additional identified that the supply will not be new however was inherited from earlier electoral legal guidelines and retained with out enough safeguards within the present modification.
Warning of broader penalties, Atiku mentioned ambiguity in electoral legal guidelines invitations disputes and undermines democratic stability. He urged the Unbiased Nationwide Electoral Fee to strengthen its operational pointers to eradicate conditions by which private judgment might override goal standards.
“A democracy can’t survive on ambiguity. A poll should both meet the usual or it doesn’t. The second you permit such a vital choice to subjective judgment, you invite manipulation, dispute, and finally, chaos,” he mentioned.
“At a time when Nigerians are demanding transparency and credibility, it’s reckless to retain a clause that weakens confidence within the very basis of democracy—the vote,” he added.
He additionally known as on worldwide observers and democratic companions to carefully monitor Nigeria’s electoral authorized framework, insisting that the credibility of future elections relies upon as a lot on the legislation as on its implementation.
Atiku added that President Bola Tinubu has a accountability to topic vital laws to thorough scrutiny earlier than signing it into legislation.
“The world is watching. Nigeria should not ship a sign that its electoral system could be bent by interpretation. The President, Bola Tinubu, additionally bears an obligation to topic each vital laws to rigorous scrutiny earlier than appending his signature.
“Management calls for vigilance. The doc he assented to must have handed probably the most stringent integrity check,” Atiku
Tinubu had assented to the Electoral Act 2026 (Modification) on February 18 on the Presidential Villa in Abuja, shortly after its passage by the Nationwide Meeting.