Presidency Warns Opposition Parties Against Misleading Nigerians on Electoral Act Reforms

Presidency Warns Opposition Parties Against Misleading Nigerians on Electoral Act Reforms
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‎The Presidency has warned opposition parties against what it described as deliberate misinformation and unwarranted outrage over recent amendments to the Electoral Act.
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‎In a statement issued on February 26, 2026, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, criticised opposition figures, particularly the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), for what he called reckless and spurious allegations against President Bola Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led Federal Government.
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‎Onanuga accused the opposition of turning sensational political statements into a strategy to attract headlines and mislead the public. He alleged that, working with some civil society groups, they had sustained a campaign of disinformation against the National Assembly and the administration in a bid to discredit electoral reforms.
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‎Defending the amendments, the Presidency said the revised Electoral Act provides for real-time electronic transmission of election results while retaining Form EC8A as a safeguard in the event of network failure. It described claims that the inclusion of Form EC8A creates a loophole for manipulation as illogical and misleading.
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‎According to the statement, the law does not prohibit electronic transmission of results but stipulates that where technical failures occur, results recorded on Form EC8A shall remain valid. It also clarified that the IReV portal is a transparency platform for public viewing of uploaded results and not a collation centre, stressing that Form EC8 remains the legally recognised source document for validating election results.
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‎The Presidency further defended the reintroduction of direct primaries and consensus voting for candidate selection, questioning why opposition parties were resisting reforms that, in its view, empower ordinary party members over what it described as the corrupt delegate system.
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‎Onanuga dismissed claims that the National Assembly ignored public input, stating that lawmakers consulted widely with stakeholders and experts over a two-year period before passing the amendments.
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‎He also rejected allegations that President Tinubu was attempting to turn Nigeria into a one-party state, describing such claims as baseless. Nigeria, he said, remains a multiparty democracy with more than a dozen registered political parties.
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‎The Presidency maintained that the new Electoral Act strengthens the electoral process by closing loopholes and enhancing transparency, urging opposition parties to engage constructively rather than resort to what it termed constant lamentation.
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‎Onanuga advised opposition leaders to focus on strengthening their internal structures and offering credible alternatives to Nigerians instead of spreading what he described as misinformation.
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