Senate President Godswill Akpabio has said the National Assembly may review certain provisions of the Electoral Act 2026 following concerns that the law has created challenges for lawmakers seeking re-election.
Speaking on Tuesday at the opening of the 2026 National Assembly Open Week and the presentation of the 10th National Assembly’s Third-Year Legislative Scorecard in Abuja, Akpabio acknowledged that recent party primaries had revealed unintended consequences of the legislation.
He noted that while the Act helped ensure largely peaceful primaries across many states, lawmakers had become affected by some of the provisions they enacted.
“From even the Electoral Act that we passed, you can see not so many people were killed, if any, in many of the states of the federation during these primaries,”* he said.
“But we shall tinker with the Act again to make sure that we are not the victims of our own actions.*
“I don’t know when we get to the point, because I understand many members and many senators were overwhelmed by the leadership of the various constituencies because I don’t think I want to say states… and at the end of the day, we seem to have made a law against ourselves.”*
His remarks follow complaints by some federal lawmakers who failed to secure their parties’ tickets during the recently concluded primaries ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Although Akpabio did not identify the specific sections of the Electoral Act that could be amended, he assured lawmakers that the Assembly would revisit the legislation to address the concerns.
“But I assure you that we shall tinker with it so that future members and future senators will not have difficulty going back.*
“Because the more people with experience that comes back, the more the country benefits from their activities,”* he added.
The Senate President also defended the performance of the 10th National Assembly, describing it as the most peaceful and productive legislature since the return to democratic governance in 1999.
He said the Assembly had made notable progress in lawmaking, constitutional amendments and economic reforms through collaboration with the executive, adding that key proposals such as the State Police Bill underwent extensive consultations and public hearings across the country before advancing in the legislative process.
“People are not aware that we have worked on it for the past two and a half years. We have gone to all the regions in Nigeria. We have done public hearings across the country,”* he said.
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