Head, National Peace Committee Secretariat, Rev. Fr Atta Barkindo, has expressed worries over the 2026 Electoral Act recently signed into law by President Bola Tinubu.
He believes that laws such as politicians losing their seat and positions when they defect from the political parties in which they were elected to other parties should have been included in the act during the amendment.
He also said that the National Peace Accord Committee was concerned about other issues in the Act such as funding of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.
“In the previous act, we required money to be provided for INEC at least one year to the elections.
“But if you look at the new Electoral Act 2026, it is just six months, and then we keep complaining that INEC has logistical issues, procurement issues, and purchase of sensitive and non sensitive materials.
“You are providing them money only six months to the elections,” he said on Arise News.
He added that: “And besides, INEC has submitted his budget, and I think, I suspect that the budget is still being debated. We have just a few months until the election. I think that is really a problem.
“The other problem is the elimination of indirect primaries by the political parties.
“We think that that is really a problem because right now you have either direct or consensus.
“Because at the moment in this country, political parties are the only conveyor belt to power. So whoever they give us as a candidate, these are the people we are going to vote into office.
“So they are now asking them to have direct primaries. But there’s also a condition, by the 23rd of April, primaries are supposed to begin, and then they are supposed to make sure that they submit a digital register, which means members must register, you know, with their polling units, their ward, their birth certificate, their name, numbers, and digitalize this process.
“That is really going to be very hard for some political parties to meet those demands, which means that if you are not registered, you are not a member of that political party, you can’t vote and be voted for.
“We expected the law to also include that anyone who defects, lose your seat and then let the law declare that the seat is vacant, and within a few days or months, let a new election be held.
“So I think these are some of the challenges within the act that we are really calling on the politicians to put their acts together.”
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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