The Senate has revised clause 28 of the Electoral Act (Repeal and Re-enactment) Bill, 2026, reducing the mandatory notice period for general elections from 360 days to 300 days in a move aimed at preventing a potential clash between the 2027 polls and the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
The upper chamber rescinded its earlier passage of the bill and returned it to the committee of the whole after concerns emerged that the 360-day requirement could compel the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to schedule the presidential and national assembly elections during Ramadan.
Senate leader and lawmaker representing Ekiti central, Opeyemi Bamidele, moved the motion for rescission pursuant to Orders 1(b) and 52(6) of the Senate Standing Orders.
“Upon critical review of the passed bill, the 360-day notice requirement prescribed in clause 28 could result in the scheduling of the 2027 presidential and national assembly elections during the Ramadan period,” Bamidele said.
Following deliberations, the Senate adopted a revised version of clause 28, which states that “the commission shall, not later than 300 days before the day appointed for holding of an election under this bill, publish a notice in each state of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory.
“Stating the date of the election, and appointing the place at which nomination papers are to be delivered.
“The notice shall be published in each constituency in respect of which an election is to be held.”
Bamidele warned that conducting elections during Ramadan “could adversely affect voter turnout, logistical coordination, stakeholders’ participation, and the overall inclusiveness and credibility of the electoral process”.
The amendment followed consultations between the leadership of the National Assembly and INEC.
The New Daily Prime reported INEC had earlier scheduled February 20, 2027, for the presidential and national assembly elections, and March 6, 2027, for governorship and state assembly polls.
Simon Lalong, chairman of the senate committee on electoral matters and senator representing Plateau south, clarified that the current INEC chairman did not intentionally fix the dates to coincide with Ramadan.
“It was the immediate past INEC Chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, that actually set the template for the election dates from 2019 to 2031,” Lalong said.
The Senate also retained a contentious proviso in clause 60 allowing manual transmission of results where electronic transmission fails due to network issues.
Enyinnaya Abaribe, senator representing Abia south, raised a point of order and demanded a division on clause 60(3), objecting to the retention of the manual backup provision.
“This is democracy in action,” Senate President Godswill Akpabio said, directing senators to “signify where they belong by standing up and raising up their hands.”
After voting, 55 senators supported retaining the proviso, while 15 voted against it.
Akpabio declared that those who backed the clause “had just saved Nigeria’s democracy”.
With the decision, the Senate reaffirmed that while electronic transmission of results remains permissible, the duly signed Form EC8A will serve as the primary source of results in the event of network failure.
The chamber subsequently passed the Electoral Act (Repeal and Re-enactment) Bill, 2026.
