ADC To Tinubu: Signed Electoral Act Portends Danger To 2027 Elections

The African Democratic Congress, ADC, says it’s prepared to mobilise Nigerians to defend their votes during the 2027 elections, following President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s signing of the 2026 Electoral Act.

According to the ADC, in a statement signed by the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdulahi, the president has shown that he’s not interested in conducting credible elections in the country, saying Tinubu has further weakened his democratic credentials.

The ADC in the statement released on Thursday, accused President Tinubu of signing the Act despite its rejection by many Nigerians who said it fell short of their expectations. The ADC spokesperson  said it’s now clear that the ruling APC and President Tinubu are unpopular among Nigerians, wondering why the president signed the Act in a hurry.

The party said it’s concerned on the implications of the new Act for the 2027 general elections, saying Nigerians may be forced to seek self help in case next year’s elections fell short of their expectations, saying the president has set the country’s democracy back “several decades” by signing the amended Electoral Act..

“In signing the bill into law, the President claimed to be consolidating the country’s democracy, but in reality, he has simply corrupted it further by introducing ambiguity and permitting excessive discretion in the collation and transmission process,” ADC said in the statement.

“It is quite instructive that despite claiming to control more than 30 state governments and commanding a majority in both chambers of the National Assembly, the extraordinary haste with which this amendment was passed and signed raises the unavoidable question of why a government that wrongly boasts about being so politically dominant would rush changes to the electoral framework unless it harbours deep-seated doubts about submitting itself to a truly transparent and competitive process.

“The African Democratic Congress is also deeply concerned about what this amendment portends for Nigeria’s forthcoming elections. In the absence of firm guarantees of electronic transparency, vigilant citizens may feel compelled to physically safeguard their votes to prevent discrepancies between polling units and collation centres, as has been witnessed in the past

“As a duly constituted political party in the Federal Republic of Nigeria… the ADC affirms in the strongest and clearest possible terms that we are ready, willing, and prepared to defend the sanctity of Nigeria’s democracy using every constitutional and lawful means available to us.

“We will mobilise Nigerians toward vigilance, toward lawful participation, and toward unity in defence of their constitutional rights. We stand firm in the belief that the will of the people must prevail and that no law, however hastily enacted, can extinguish the democratic aspirations of a free nation,” the party said.

The magazine reports that not a few Nigerians have expressed their dissatisfaction with the Act, particularly with the excision, by the National Assembly, of the clause requiring real-time electronic transmission of election results.

For instance, a popular activist Prof. Pat Utomi, had described NASS action as self-serving and treason against the Nigerian people.