The National Assembly, ahead of the 2027 general elections, has proposed shifting the dates of the presidential and governorship polls from the usual February or March to November 2026.
Naijaonpoint reports that the proposal is contained in draft amendments to the 2022 Electoral Act, which currently stipulates that elections into both offices must be held not later than 185 days before the expiration of the incumbent’s tenure on May 29.
The proposals came to the fore on Monday at a one-day public hearing organised by the Senate and House of Representatives Joint Committee on Electoral Matters.
According to the draft, Section 4 (7) now provides that “elections into the office of the president and governor of a state shall be held not later than 185 days before the expiration of the term of office of the last holder of the office.”
By calculation, 185 days before May 29, 2027, falls in November 2026, since the period from May 28, 2027, back to December 1, 2026, amounts to 180 days.
For legislative elections, Section 4 (5) of the draft states that polls into the state assemblies and the National Assembly must be conducted “not later than 185 days before the date on which each of the houses stands dissolved.”
The Chairman of the House Committee on Electoral Matters, Adebayo Balogun, explained that the intent of the proposal was to ensure sufficient time for courts to resolve all election-related cases before new leaders are sworn in.
“To ensure that all manner of election litigation is dispensed with before the swearing-in of winners, we are proposing an amendment that will reduce 180 days of tribunal judgement to 90 days,” Balogun said.
He added that appellate courts would have 90 days to deliver judgment, while the Supreme Court would have up to 60 days — all within the 185-day window.
Sections 285 and 139 of the 1999 Constitution are also being lined up for amendment to align with the proposed changes.
Other significant proposals in the draft include early voting, mandatory electronic transmission of results, and reforms to the use of permanent voter cards.
Section 2 provides for early voting “not later than 14 days before the day of the election,” to accommodate security personnel, INEC officials, accredited observers, journalists, and ad hoc staff.
On results transmission, Section 60 (5) states, “The presiding officer shall transmit the results, including the total number of accredited voters, to the next level of collation both electronically and manually.”
The draft also criminalises the distribution of unstamped ballot papers and result sheets, with offenders liable to one year imprisonment, a fine of ₦1 million, or both.
Stakeholders at the hearing, including Abdullahi Zuru, representative of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), endorsed the proposals, particularly the push for electronic voting and electronic transmission of results to strengthen transparency.
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