Atiku Abubakar, former vice-president, has blamed loopholes in the Electoral Act for the alleged rigging during the 2023 general election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Atiku said the gaps in the law also made it almost impossible for petitioners to successfully pursue electoral cases in court.
“A major setback to the 2023 elections is the loopholes in the Electoral Act 2022 that paved the way for the brazen rigging of that election, and the near-impossibility of petitioners to advance their cases in the courts,” he wrote.
The former vice-president said correcting the shortcomings of the 2023 polls requires an urgent review of the law guiding future elections.
“It is imperative that if the mistakes of the 2023 election are to be corrected, the legal instrument for the conduct of the 2027 and subsequent future elections needs to be reviewed,” he said.
Atiku accused the senate of deliberately stalling the amendment process.
“But as things stand, it has become obvious that the Senate is determined to frustrate the passage of amendments to the 2022 Electoral Act,” he wrote.
He cited a recent Foundation for Investigative Journalism report as evidence of the need for legislative accountability.
“The recent report by FIJ serves as both an indictment of the Senate and a timely call for legislative responsibility,” Atiku said.
The former PDP presidential candidate warned that the credibility of the 2027 general election depends on the urgency with which the senate treats the proposed amendments.
“The credibility of the 2027 general elections hinges on the urgency with which the Senate treats this crucial bill,” he wrote.
“Anything short of this is a deliberate attempt to rig the election long before the ballots are cast.”
In a new year message in January, Opeyemi Bamidele, senate leader, said the upper would fast-track the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill in 2026.
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