PDP: Tinubu Signed Electoral Act Because He’s Desperate To Return To Office

The signing of the Electoral Act 2026 by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, is a desperate move, the  Tanimu Turaki faction of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has said.

The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Ini Ememobong, made the assertion on Wednesday, coming on the heels of President Tinubu’s assent to the Act passed by the National Assembly.

The magazine reports that the president signed the controversial Act during a brief ceremony in Aso Rock Villa, Nigeria’s Presidency, attended by Nigeria’s Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, among other Presidency’s officials.

Not a few Nigerians insist that the Act fell short of their expectations after a clause, requiring real-time transmission of election results was removed by the lawmakers. The clause, they contend, would have guaranteed transparent, free and fair election.

Reacting, the PDP said the president should not have signed the Act because it did not meet the demand of Nigerians, describing Tinubu’s action as a desperation, saying the ruling APC fear that the clause, if included, could truncate its plan to return to power next year.

the PDP said it’s sad that the two chambers of the nation’s National Assembly still went ahead to pass the bill despite widespread opposition by not a few Nigerians.

The APC ‘fears inevitable defeat’ in the 2027 election, the opposition party said, describing President Tinubu decision to sign the Ac as a ‘sad day’ for the nation’s democracy.

Ememobong: “The party’s fear of inevitable defeat in a free and fair election is palpable, and they are unable to conceal it any longer.

“This is indeed a sad day for democracy. The Nigerian people have been dealt a bad card that existentially threatens democracy.

“The President has shown his inability to rise above partisanship in the art of governance.”

While signing the bill yesterday, President Tinubu justified his action, saying the nation’s telecom infrastructure lacks the capacity to handle real-time electronic transmission of election results.

“Maybe Nigeria should question our broadband capability. How technically are we today? How technically will we be tomorrow to answer the call of either real-time or not,” the President said.