…Tells Nigerians to ‘Follow the Money’
Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan has called on Nigerians to scrutinize the proposed ₦873 billion earmarked for the 2027 general elections, urging citizens to “follow the money” and demand transparency in procurement processes.
She stressed that beyond the recent amendments to the Electoral Act, public oversight of election funding, technology deployment and logistics would be critical to restoring and strengthening confidence in Nigeria’s democratic system.
The lawmaker gave the charge in a detailed post shared on her social media platforms following the signing of the Electoral Act Amendment Bill 2026 into law by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
According to her, while the National Assembly and the Presidency have discharged their constitutional responsibilities, attention must now shift to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to ensure strict compliance with the law and equal treatment of all political parties and candidates.
She urged INEC to deploy technology effectively for voter accreditation and real-time transmission of results, guarantee timely logistics and efficient distribution of election materials, protect the integrity of the voters’ register, and work closely with security agencies to ensure peaceful, violence-free polls.
Akpoti-Uduaghan also questioned the quality of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machines and called for smarter software upgrades for both BVAS and the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal. She advocated for reliable nationwide connectivity during election week, suggesting partnerships with network providers such as Starlink to ensure seamless coverage across the country’s 177,000 polling units.
Highlighting key amendments in the new law, the senator noted that documents required for voter registration have been reduced to three birth certificate, Nigerian passport and National Identification Number (NIN) while voters can now download their voter cards directly from INEC’s website.
She further explained that electronic transmission of results to IReV has been made compulsory. However, she drew attention to the proviso in Section 60(3), which provides that in the event of network failure preventing electronic transmission, the physical result sheet (Form EC8A) becomes the primary mode of collation and declaration of results. While describing most of the amendments as commendable, she expressed reservations about this particular fallback provision.
The amended Act also adopts direct primaries and consensus as the only approved methods for political parties to nominate candidates. In addition, election funds must now be released to INEC at least six months before the general election, instead of 12 months as previously required. Political parties are to submit their lists of candidates 120 days before election day, while INEC must publish the final list of candidates 60 days to the polls.
Maintaining that Nigerians are the true custodians of democracy, Akpoti-Uduaghan emphasized that laws are dynamic and not absolute, noting that citizens dissatisfied with any aspect of the Electoral Act 2026 retain the constitutional right to challenge it through judicial action.
