Tinubu Defends Electoral Act At APC Convention, Says Opposition Criticism Is A Disservice To Nigerians
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has strongly defended Nigeria’s Electoral Act, describing opposition attacks on the law as a disservice to Nigerians and a distortion of reforms he says were designed to strengthen the country’s democracy. He made the remarks on Friday, March 27, 2026, while addressing the 4th Elective National Convention of the All Progressives Congress at Eagle Square in Abuja.
The president’s intervention came against the backdrop of a wider national controversy over the Electoral Act 2026, which has faced sustained criticism from opposition parties and some election stakeholders since it was signed into law in February. Those critics argue that key provisions in the new law weaken earlier electoral safeguards and could affect the credibility of the 2027 general election.
At the APC convention, Tinubu said the law did not emerge casually or through a rushed backdoor process. According to him, the Electoral Act passed through “rigorous and extensive legislative scrutiny” before becoming law, and its provisions were part of a broader institutional effort to improve the country’s democratic framework. He accused opponents of twisting the law for partisan gain and trying to score political points with arguments that, in his view, do not reflect the full legislative process behind the measure.
That argument is politically important because one of the opposition’s central claims has been that the Electoral Act 2026 was processed too quickly and signed despite widespread public objections. When Tinubu assented to the law in February, opposition parties, especially the Peoples Democratic Party, publicly condemned the move and described it as a setback for democratic progress. Reports at the time said the president signed the bill shortly after its passage by both chambers of the National Assembly, fueling accusations that the process was overly compressed for a law of such significance.
Tinubu’s latest remarks therefore serve two purposes. First, they are a political defence of his earlier decision to sign the amended law. Second, they are an attempt to reassure supporters and the wider public that the electoral framework heading into 2027 still rests on legality, institutional review and constitutional order. In Abuja on Friday, he linked the reforms directly to the strengthening of democratic institutions and said his administration would continue to operate within the rule of law while protecting electoral integrity.
The venue and timing of the speech also matter. Tinubu spoke at a major APC convention where he addressed not only the Electoral Act but also broader political concerns, including accusations that the ruling party is trying to dominate the political space through defections. At the same event, he said the APC does not seek to create a one-party state and that democracy requires a credible opposition. That broader message suggests he was trying to project the image of a governing party that is confident enough to welcome competition but unwilling to accept what it sees as deliberate misinformation about the rules of the electoral system.
Still, the criticism Tinubu dismissed is not coming only from party rivals. Former electoral officials and public commentators have also raised alarms about the new law. Former Resident Electoral Commissioner Mike Igini, for example, described the Electoral Act 2026 as a regression and argued that it diluted some of the more progressive features of earlier electoral reforms. INEC Chairman Joash Amupitan, by contrast, has publicly emphasized strict compliance with the law as essential for credible elections and national stability. That split shows the argument is not merely APC versus opposition, but part of a deeper debate over what kind of electoral framework Nigeria should operate before 2027.
What Tinubu clearly wants to establish is that criticisms of the law should not be framed as if the Electoral Act emerged outside due democratic procedure. His position is that the scrutiny happened, the law was passed, and the focus should now shift to implementation rather than political attacks. In practical terms, that means his administration is trying to move the conversation from whether the Act should exist to whether institutions such as INEC, political parties and the courts will apply it faithfully.
Stone Reporters note that the full significance of Tinubu’s remarks lies in what they signal ahead of the next election cycle. The Electoral Act 2026 is already becoming one of the defining legal and political battlegrounds before 2027. By defending it so directly at a national party convention, the president has effectively made support for the law part of the APC’s broader democratic narrative. The opposition, on the other hand, is likely to continue treating the law as evidence of a system being tilted before the contest fully begins. That means the argument over the Electoral Act is unlikely to fade soon.
For now, the most solidly established facts are these: Tinubu used the APC convention in Abuja on March 27 to say criticism of the Electoral Act is unfair to Nigerians; he insisted the law underwent extensive scrutiny before passage; he said the reforms are meant to strengthen democratic institutions; and he pledged continued respect for the rule of law, credible elections and protection of electoral integrity. The unresolved part is not what he said, but whether the law he is defending will command wider public trust as Nigeria moves closer to 2027.
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