Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday signed the reworked Electoral Act Amendment Bill 2022 after many years of back and forth.

The new law will empower the Nigerian Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to deploy technological solutions for elections in the country.

The Electoral Act 2022 which replaces the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended) constitutes the principal law to govern the conduct of future elections, including the 2023 poll.

Meanwhile, there are concerns that the new law will bring little succour to the electoral process as Nigerian politicians are notorious for manipulating the system, including vote buying, thuggery and ballot box snatching.

If there are no attitudinal changes, the country may continue to relieve the experience of incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari who literarily slept in the courts to challenge his election loss in 2011, as presidential candidate of Congress for Progressive Change (CPC).

Many political office holders have lost elections during announcement of election results by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) but later got justice from courts.

President Buhari had signed the new law with some reservations.

He had noted that Section 84(12) of the bill states that “No political appointee at any level shall be voting delegate or be voted for at the Convention or Congress of any political party for the purpose of the nomination of candidates for any election”.

He added, “Section 84 (12) constitutes a disenfranchisement of serving political office holders from voting or being voted for at Conventions or Congresses of any political party, for the purpose of the nomination of candidates for any election in cases where it holds earlier than 30 days to the National Election.”

Without guarantees to attitudinal change, its doubtful that the much anticipated credible elections will materialize.