President Bola Tinubu has signed the Electoral Act, 2022 (Repeal and Re-Enactment) Bill 2026 into law, following the passage of the bill by the National Assembly on Tuesday after months of deliberations.

Tinubu signed the bill at the State House on Wednesday in the presence of top government officials, including the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio; the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas; and the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila.

Speaking shortly after signing the bill into law, Tinubu commended the national assembly for the “solid brainstorming discussions” aimed at strengthening national development and safeguarding democratic stability.

According to him, the essence of democracy is to have very solid brainstorming discussions committed to national development and nation building, the stability of the nation.

The president noted that beyond the historical significance of the legislation, the priority is ensuring that the electoral process is managed in a way that prevents confusion or disenfranchisement.

In his words, what is crucial is the fact that you manage the process to the extent there will be no confusion, no disenfranchisement of Nigerians; and we are all going to see democracy flourish.

Tinubu noted that confidence in the system must be rebuilt, arguing that no electoral framework, however technologically advanced, can function without human integrity.

He said no matter how good a system is, it’s managed by the people, promoted by the people, and result is finalised by the people, saying for final results, you are not going to be talking to the computer. You are going to be talking to human beings who announce the results.

Addressing debates around real-time electronic transmission of results, the president urged a realistic assessment of Nigeria’s technological capacity, particularly broadband infrastructure.

When you look at the crux of various agreements, maybe Nigeria should question our broadband capability. How technically are we today? How technically will we be tomorrow?” Tinubu asked.

He emphasised that the voting process itself remains fundamentally manual, adding that voters will continue to appear in person at polling units, receive ballot papers, thumbprint their preferred candidates and cast their votes without interference.

Ballots, he added, are sorted and counted manually, with only the arithmetic results entered into official forms.

“Essentially, the transmission of that manual result is what we’re looking at, and we need to avoid glitches,” he said, warning against unnecessary interference in an era of heightened digital scrutiny.

Expressing optimism about the country’s democratic future, Tinubu said Nigeria would continue to nurture its democracy toward achieving prosperity and stability.

“Nigeria will be there. We will flourish. We will continue to nurture this democracy for the fulfilment of our dream for prosperity and stability of our country,” he added.