The mandatory requirement for all political parties to conduct electronic registration of its members and submit same to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as stipulated in the 2026 Electoral Act pushed lawmakers at the House of Representatives to amend the recently assented law, yesterday, Daily Trust gathered.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu signed the Electoral Amendment Bill 2026 into law on February 18, barely 24 hours after it was passed by the National Assembly after heated sessions.
The 2026 Electoral Act requires each political party to submit its digital membership register to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) at least 21 days prior to any primary, congress, or convention while non-compliance will result in disqualification from fielding candidates.
The digital database of members of political parties becomes critical since the electoral act has provided only two options for primaries which must be either through direct primary or by consensus.
The implication of this is that, only party members who are duly captured on the electronic databases of their respective parties will be eligible to participate during direct primaries.
Already, a number of the political parties indicated they have registered members running into millions on their database.
Analysts said that the amendment by the lawmakers to a law that is less than one month old is partly to ensure that no member registers with more than one political party in the ongoing digital registration by political parties. The House of Representatives passed an amendment stipulating stiffer penalties for members who maintain membership of more than one political party at a time.
2-year jail term, N10m fine for dual party membership
The House of Representatives amended Section 77 of the Electoral Act 2026, to prescribe a two-year jail term or a N10 million fine, or both, for anyone who knowingly maintains membership of more than one political party at the same time.
Daily Trust reports that lawmakers, during the session, presided over by Deputy Speaker, Benjamin Okezie Kalu, amended the section by inserting three new clauses 8, 9 and 10, following a robust debate among members. Under the new provisions, any person found to be registered as a member of more than one political party simultaneously will have such membership declared void. Clause 8 of the amendment states that “a person shall not be registered as a member of more than one political party at the same time.”
Clause 9 further provides that where it is established that a person is registered with more than one political party simultaneously, the dual membership shall be void and the individual will cease to be recognised as a valid member of any political party pending regularisation in line with the Electoral Act and the constitution of the political party concerned.
Clause 10 stipulates that any person who knowingly registers or maintains membership in more than one political party commits an offence and is liable, upon conviction, to a fine of N10 million or imprisonment for two years, or both. The bill, which was introduced on Wednesday, was given accelerated consideration and passed through first, second and third readings on the same day.
Reading the synopsis of the bill on behalf of the House Leader, Julius Ihonvbere, Hassan Fulata, said the amendment was intended to strengthen the exclusivity of party membership in line with provisions of the Electoral Act that emphasise party-based participation in primary elections.
“This amendment is to strengthen the exclusivity of party membership and avoid double registration that could influence primary elections,” Fulata said.
During the debate, some lawmakers raised concerns about the possible conflict between the amendment and Section 40 of the Constitution, which guarantees freedom of association.
Hassan Fulata, in his contribution argued that denying a person membership of both parties where dual registration is discovered might infringe on constitutional right, suggesting that such a person should instead be limited to only one party rather than losing membership of both.
However, other lawmakers supported the amendment, insisting that belonging to two political parties at the same time amounted to dishonesty and could undermine the integrity of party primaries.
“You cannot put your legs in two different houses at the same time. For the sake of moral justice and honesty, you should belong to one political party at any given time,” Gaza Jonathan Gbefwi said during the debate.
Some members also raised concerns about possible manipulation, noting that individuals could be registered in another party without their consent and such could be used against them.
Responding to the concerns, Deputy Speaker Kalu pointed to the use of biometric data in party registration and the inclusion of the word “knowingly” in the amendment, stressing that the offence would only apply where deliberate intent is established.
After deliberations, lawmakers adopted the clauses and the bill was subsequently passed by the House through third reading.
Meanwhile, Daily Trust learnt that beyond the reasons advanced for the amendment, the move is viewed as a broader and deeper strategic move to check movements of aggrieved aspirants that may lose out during primaries ahead of the 2027 election. A source said there’s more to the amendment than meets the eyes.
“You will agree with me that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has been harvesting members of the opposition parties into their fold with the hope that they will get automatic tickets to run for various offices.
“But in reality, it is not possible for the ruling party to give their tickets to all those that have crossed over to their party. What happens to the existing members who also have their own political ambitions? With this kind of amendment in place, it will be difficult for such aspirants who lose out in the primaries to cross over to another political party as “plan B”.
“What this amendment has done is that once you have registered with a particular political party, you cannot move to another party within the same election cycle as used to be the case in the past. Simply put, it is a strategy of ensuring that people do not move to another platform to actualise their ambitions once they fail in securing ticket on the platform they are registered,” the source said.
Amendments without cognisance to concerns raised by opposition, curious – CISLAC
Meanwhile, the Executive Director of Civil Society Legislative and Advocacy Centre, Auwal Musa Rafsanjani, has described the amendment done by the lawmakers without putting the concerns raised by the opposition parties into factor, as curious and problematic.
He also said that the amendment coming only a few weeks after the passage of the 2026 Electoral Act showed that the lawmakers did not do their due diligence before passing the bill.
“The lawmakers were expected to have thoroughly looked at the electoral act and looked at the areas of concern, especially those raised by political parties.
“I think they did not look at what the political parties were actually complaining about. They went ahead with the amendment that was brought. Some people will find it difficult to understand why they rushed in passing this particular amendment.
“Even though the Senate has not yet done it, it is going to create concern, especially if it is not coming from the executive. Any attempt to make an amendment while leaving those aspects that the opposition parties have raised concerns about, which they threatened to boycott the election if those things are not amended, then it gives room for concerns. I think, it is a problem. You cannot just make one amendment and pretend everything is okay. That’s not right, except if they are trying to undermine the 2027 general elections. It is curious that the lawmakers ignored the concerns raised by the opposition parties while they went ahead to make amendments to the act. The ideal thing is for them to have also looked at the concerns raised by the opposition parties in the course of the amendment,” he said.
Efforts by Daily Trust to get reactions from the opposition parties last night proved abortive as messages sent to their spokespersons were not responded to just as they did not take calls put through to them.
DAILY TRUST.
