The Nigerian Senate have officially set a date to discuss major changes to the country’s election laws.
The Senate announced that it will begin considering amendments to the Electoral Act starting in February 2026.
The goal of these changes is to make Nigeria’s elections more transparent and to stop people from cheating.
Two of the most important issues to be discussed are the mandatory use of electronic transmission of results and the strict use of the Permanent Voter Card (PVC).
During the last general elections, there was a lot of confusion about how results were sent from polling units to the national centre.
While some results were sent electronically, many were not, leading to arguments and court cases.
Lawmakers now want to make it a law that all results must be sent electronically.
"We want to ensure that once a vote is counted at the polling unit, it is uploaded immediately so that no one can change the numbers on the way to the counting centre," one lawmaker explained.
The House will also debate making the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) a permanent part of the law.
This machine makes sure that only the person who owns the PVC can vote.
Hon. Philip Agbese, the Deputy Spokesperson of the House, confirmed the plan for the robust debate.
He noted that the House is committed to "giving Nigerians an electoral law that they can be proud of."
He added that the lawmakers want to "plug every hole that allows for election rigging."
For a long time, Nigerians have called for better ways to protect their votes, and by fixing the date to consider these laws, the National Assembly is responding to the demands of the public.
