Atiku Abubakar, former Vice President, has warned that Nigeria’s 2027 general elections are at risk of being compromised, accusing the Senate of deliberately stalling the amendment of the Electoral Act.
In a post on X on Thursday, the 2023 Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate blamed loopholes in the Electoral Act 2022 for enabling widespread manipulation during the last general election and for making it nearly impossible for petitioners to pursue justice in court.
Atiku said the legal gaps allowed electoral processes to be “brazenly rigged” and left victims with limited options for redress.
“A major setback to the 2023 elections is the loopholes in the Electoral Act 2022 that paved the way for the brazen rigging of that election, and the near-impossibility of petitioners to advance their cases in the courts,” he wrote.
He insisted that the same vulnerabilities would undermine future polls unless the law is urgently revised.
“It is imperative that if the mistakes of the 2023 election are to be corrected, the legal instrument for the conduct of the 2027 and subsequent future elections needs to be reviewed,” Atiku said.
Atiku accused the Senate of intentionally frustrating the amendment process, suggesting that the delay is politically motivated.
“But as things stand, it has become obvious that the Senate is determined to frustrate the passage of amendments to the 2022 Electoral Act,” he said.
He also cited a recent report by the Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ), describing it as a damning indictment of the National Assembly and a call for urgent legislative accountability.
“The recent report by FIJ serves as both an indictment of the Senate and a timely call for legislative responsibility,” Atiku said.
He warned that any further delay in passing the amendments would threaten the integrity of the 2027 elections.
“The credibility of the 2027 general elections hinges on the urgency with which the Senate treats this crucial bill,” he said, adding that failure to act would amount to “a deliberate attempt to rig the election long before the ballots are cast.”
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