By Okoi Obono-Obla
The Death of Amorphous Political Merchants – How the Electoral Act 2026 Has Caged Wayward Politicians
The framers of the Electoral Act 2026, cognizant of the wayward behaviour of certain categories of politicians, were foresighted enough to peer into the future and preempt their antics. On 18 February 2026, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu signed the Electoral Act 2026 into law, repealing the 2022 Act and establishing a new legal framework for the 2027 general elections.
The Act did not leave their mischief to chance. To cure the impunity of the past, it has now entrenched far-reaching safeguards which directly align with your theme:
1. The Constitutional Anchor against Amorphous Groups: The Act reinforces Section 221 of the 1999 Constitution which provides that, “No association, other than a political party, shall canvass for votes for any candidate at any election or contribute to the funds of any political party or to the election expenses of any candidate at an election”. Therefore, no politician is allowed to use any amorphous body under the guise of a so-called consultative group, forum or platform to raise money, to campaign or to canvass for votes outside the political party that sponsored his election.
2. Party Supremacy over Personal Structures: Section 77 mandates political parties to maintain and submit verified digital membership registers to INEC at least 21 days before primaries, congresses or conventions. Section 84(2) goes further to abolish delegate voting and states that nomination shall be only by direct primaries or consensus. This kills the trick of handpicking a few yes-men to fill executive positions.
3. Financial and Technological Integrity: Section 47 gives statutory recognition to BVAS for accreditation, and Section 60(3) mandates electronic transmission of Form EC8A to the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV). The Act also revises campaign spending limits upward, with the presidential cap now N10 billion and governorship N3 billion, with strict penalties for vote-buying and result manipulation.
Therefore, those candidates who were voted into office in the 2023 general elections, but who as soon as they assumed office became inebriated by the strong whiff of power, abandoned the party cadres who tirelessly worked for their victory and floated amorphous associations under nondescript names, handpicking yes-men into organs alien to the constitution of their party, will now realize that their strategy to edge out critical stakeholders has failed.
Those wry politicians who thought they were clever by half, whose style of leadership divided their political parties along narrow lines out of selfishness, shortsightedness, or a pathological obsession with clannishness, tribalism and oligarchy, would now be licking their wounds and wondering how awry their strategy has gone, especially as the Independent National Electoral Commission has fixed September 9, 2026 for the commencement of campaigns for the 2027 general elections.
Conclusion: The Electoral Act 2026 has restored the supremacy of the political party over the individual. The era of floating parallel consultative empires to blackmail the party, raise slush funds and sideline authentic party stakeholders is over. The law now demands that every politician must return to his party base or face electoral extinction.
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