Ramadan: INEC To Change 2027 Election Date As N/Assembly Rejigs Electoral Act

…Retains Electronic/Manual Transmission Of Results

…Minority Reps Protest, Stage Walk-Out

The National Assembly on Tuesday rejigged some key provisions in the Electoral Act to avoid a clash of date of the 2027 presidential and National Assembly elections with the Ramadan period.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had fixed the two federal elections for February 20, 2027, which turned out to coincide with the 2027 Ramadan season as well as the Christian Lent.

While next year’s Ramadan falls between February 7, and March 8, 2027, the Lent starts from February 10 and ends on March 27, 2027.

The motion for the shift in date, which was moved by the Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, drew attention to the coincidence of the date for the two elections with the Ramadan.

“The Senate notes that the coincidence of the elections with the Ramadan period could adversely affect voters turnout, logistical coordination, stakeholder engagement, and the overall inclusiveness and credibility of the electoral process,” Bamidele said.

The Senate Leader also noted that the election date similarly coincides with the 2027 Christian Lent period.

Consequently, the two legislative chambers, which sat simultaneously, amended Clause 28 of the Act, which provides INEC with 360 days window to commence preparations for the 2027 general election.

The lawmakers reduced the window period from 360 days to 300 days, to allow the electoral umpire to adjust its timetable without violating the relevant provisions of the law.

However, there was uproar in the House of Representatives over the retention of manual transfer with electronic transmission of election results in the Electoral Act.

Members of minority parties angrily stormed out of a closed plenary session when the overwhelming majority APC members overrode them in their call for only real-time electronic transmission.

Led by the Minority Leader, Kingsley Chinda, the lawmakers walked out of the plenary session, shouting “APC ole, APC ole.” Ole is a Yoruba word for thief.

Trouble was said to have started when the majority APC members attempted to impose manual transfer of election results against the popular call for real-time electronics transmission.

Addressing journalists shortly after the walk-out, the opposition lawmakers decried the apparent “tyranny” of members of majority APC.

The minority Reps also rejected moves by the majority APC members to impose direct primaries on all political parties in choosing their candidates for the 2027 elections.

According to them, political parties must be allowed to choose the mode of primaries suitable to them, instead of compelling them to adopt a particular method.

The Senate however, adopted direct primaries and the consensus option as the only two modes of selecting candidates for general elections.

Also, the Senate was forced to call for division in deciding between exclusive real-time electronic transmission and manual transfer.

The APC- controlled Senate voted 55 for the combination of the two modes of transmission, against the opposition’s 15 members who wanted only real-time electronic transmission.

Speaking after passing the amendment, the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, said the position taken by the Senate was meant to improve the electoral process and to deepen democracy in Nigeria.