Nigeria, July 13 -- Every general election has a legal framework that underpins its successful conduct. The Electoral Act 2026 exemplifies this for the 2027 polls. Nigeria has had to amend extant Electoral Acts to improve the integrity of its electoral process. This is why the 2022 Electoral Act was subjected to a review early in the year, which gave birth to the Electoral Act 2026.

Yet, its ill-defined provisions on the electronic transmission of votes, from polling units to INEC's IreV portal in real time, had sparked considerable ruckus in the parliament in February and broadsides from other stakeholders, until the legislature willy-nilly acceded to popular demand.

However, many stakeholders, including Independent National Electoral ...