The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has accused former Minister of Transportation Rotimi Amaechi and other opposition figures of hypocrisy over their criticism of provisions in the newly signed 2026 Electoral Act.
Speaking during a media chat on Monday, March 2, Wike reacted to opposition objections to the clause permitting manual transmission of election results where electronic transmission fails due to poor network coverage. The minister claimed Amaechi had previously opposed the electronic transmission of results while serving under former President Muhammadu Buhari, and questioned why he was now demanding its full implementation.
“Remember under Buhari, the issue of electronic transmission came. People like Rotimi Amaechi, they were in government, they said ‘no, don’t sign, if you sign you lose election’. “And this is the same person now who is coming out in the public to say there should be electronic transmission, but he refused simply because he felt his boss would be affected,” Wike said.
He maintained that the new Electoral Act does not abolish electronic transmission but provides a safeguard to prevent votes from being invalidated in areas with unreliable connectivity. “Now we are here, they did not say there should not be electronic transmission. All they said is in case, and which is likely, let us not disenfranchise people by not allowing their votes to be counted,” he said.
Wike also addressed the controversy surrounding the requirement for political parties to adopt direct primaries, arguing that the reform was designed to curb the influence of powerful individuals within party structures.
According to him, indirect primaries have historically allowed governors, ministers and wealthy political actors to dominate candidate selection processes. He described Nigerians as “professional complainants,” suggesting that critics had previously faulted indirect primaries for concentrating power among party elites and “moneybags.”
Opposition parties, including the African Democratic Congress and the New Nigeria Peoples Party, have called on the National Assembly to initiate fresh amendments to what they describe as “all obnoxious provisions” in the 2026 Electoral Act.
They argue that the amended law, signed by President Bola Tinubu, contains “anti-democratic” clauses that could undermine electoral transparency and public confidence in the voting process. The debate over electronic transmission and party primaries is expected to intensify in the coming weeks as stakeholders push for further legislative review ahead of the next electoral cycle.
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