Rigging Gets Tougher: INEC Officials Now Face Two Years Behind Bars

By: Abudu Olalekan

Folks overseeing votes in Nigeria now face tougher consequences when tampering with election results.

Sunday brought a shock from the National Assembly. Anyone sitting as an electoral commissioner now risks two years behind bars if caught tampering with voting papers. The threat isn’t empty. It lives inside the fresh Electoral Act 2026, which President Tinubu approved just one day after legislators sent it his way.

Something real just landed in Abuja. Not fast, not flashy – two full years of talks, tweaks, push and pull shaped what came next. Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele laid it out plain. After all that time, it arrived.

Here it is – the opposition has started shouting. Rules changed, they claim, all to help the ruling APC stay on top. Limits on money, how primaries run, when things happen – each piece seems to lean one way. The President hits back, calling them needed updates, nothing more. Trust goes where? That part sits unanswered.

The Devils In The Details
Here is the truth about change. It moves without warning.

Money for INEC arrives on its own these days. A special pot set aside just for it. Elections no longer mean scrambling around asking everyone for support. Law requires the funds move six months prior to voting day. Big change when you think about how things used to drag.

One day, someone might recall how RECs used to say files just vanished. Now, under Section 74(1), once money is paid, certified copies get delivered – within a single day. Failure means prison, not less than twenty-four months. Not even a financial penalty can take its place. This law stands firm, backed by serious intent.

Now required: sending election results electronically to INEC’s online portal. Refusing to do so could land a presiding officer behind bars for half a year, hit them with a 500-thousand-naira fine, maybe even both. Up to you what happens next.

Truth sits awkward beside promises. Bamidele spoke anyway, calling the move aligned with what people want. Yet reality often drifts from words spoken in halls of power. What crowds shout for seldom lands exactly as promised.

Money Moves Power
A huge shift hit the spending caps. Now, those chasing the presidency may spend as much as N10 billion – double the old N5 billion limit. For governorship hopefuls, the ceiling climbs to N3 billion, where it once stood at just one. Campaigning for Senate seats sees costs double too, moving from half a billion straight up to a full billion naira.

Crazy money, right?

Now even those running for local council might drop ten million naira, up from the old five million cap. When people earning the bare minimum can barely afford food, that kind of cash throws salt on open wounds.

Bribing voters could land you in jail for twenty-four months. Fines might hit five hundred thousand naira, sometimes stretching past two million. Yet when campaign chests swell with billions, attention slips. Who actually keeps count anymore?

Party Primaries What About Them?
Fizzling out, indirect primaries have vanished without a trace. Disappeared, they’re now just echoes of past processes. Over. Done in. Their time quietly slipped away.

Out here, just two methods still work under the fresh law – direct votes among members or quiet agreements behind closed doors. Before any party picks a candidate, it has got to maintain an online list of everyone signed up. Membership proof needs to arrive in physical form, handed out by officials without delay. All records, names included, land on INEC desks three weeks ahead of voting day. No extensions given once that window closes.

Failing to turn in your paperwork by the deadline means your group won’t be allowed to run anyone. That’s how it works.

Still, the rules make room for local customs – like different lines for men, women when old ways call for it. Help arrives also for those who cannot see well enough to vote alone. Thoughtful details, though real life might test them soon.

The Opposition’s Nightmare?
Fresh off the press, critics raised voices. Before the page could even dry, objections spilled out. The approval came too fast, they say. One day between lawmakers’ nod and the president’s mark. In Nigeria, that kind of move doesn’t crawl – it sprints.

Something feels off to advocacy organizations as well. Still, Bamidele says consultation reached every corner – election officials, civil groups, international backers, all included. The result, according to him, grew not just from lawmakers but from people across Nigeria. He stood by that.

Really though?

Right now is when things shift. As the 2027 polls draw closer, fresh moves redraw how politics works across the board. Power flows more strongly into INEC’s hands. For RECs, actions now carry weight – missteps bring results. What was once rare, sending votes electronically, settles firmly into everyday practice.

A courtroom directive can step in when INEC won’t hand over the certificate of return – Section 72(2) makes that clear. Winners get sworn in anyway. Never seen it play out yet.

Bottom Line
A fresh wave of changes has hit Nigeria’s voting process. Only time will tell if cheating gets blocked or simply reshaped. Prison sentences lasting twenty-four months carry weight. Funding freedom for INEC brings cautious optimism. Sending results by digital means might shift the entire game.

Yet promises aren’t new, are they?

Close to 2027, the moment arrives – how these rules hold up under pressure remains unseen. Prison for REC members? That outcome hangs in the air. The digital transfer of votes – will it run without hiccups or stumble at the first sign of strain? Independence for INEC, backed by fresh funding – possible, but only if power doesn’t get in the way.

One day might reveal more. Right now, breaking election rules means trouble follows.