The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has told President of the Senate that history will judge him harshly for his role in foisting the 2026 Electoral Act on Nigerians.
ADC in a statement by the National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi said the aspect of the law that removes certificate forgery as grounds for challenging election results would remain the enduring legacy of the Senate President and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
According to the party, the Electoral Act was designed to make the ruling party and President Bola Tinubu happy.
“Amendments are made to laws in order to make them better in meeting national aspirations and advancing the collective best interests of citizens towards achieving a better society.
“It is only in a rogue democracy, or more precisely, in a kakistocracy such as the one we are in today, that the legislature would sit down to make laws that actually lower society’s ethical standards,” ADC said.
ADC wondered how any self-respecting person would be happy with himself for presiding over the making of a law that says the election of an individual can no longer be challenged on the grounds of certificate forgery as provided in Section 138 of the Electoral Act 2026, even though this is in direct contradiction to Sections 66, 107, 137, and 182 of the Constitution, which clearly disqualify anyone who has presented a forged certificate to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from holding public office.
“This amended legislation does not only create a troubling constitutional conflict, it also shows how far a desperate political party like the APC would go in bringing the country down to its level.
“It is difficult to imagine a more damaging message to send to Nigerians, particularly to our young people, than the suggestion that certificate forgery should no longer have serious consequences,” ADC said.
The party accused National Assembly members of deliberately passing legislation “designed to protect dishonesty rather than punish” the citizens.
“Such actions do not only weaken our democracy; they lower the moral estimation of our country in the eyes of the world and reinforce the dangerous stereotype that corruption is acceptable in Nigerian public life.”
The party told Senator Akpabio that Nigerians will judge their leaders “not by their ridicule of the opposition, but by their record.”
According to the ADC, the legacy of the current National Assembly will be that of “the most spineless and compromised legislature in Nigeria’s democratic history, a legislature that made a law which lowered the nation’s ethical standard just to serve the interest of one man.”
The party said it is focused on building a credible political alternative capable of restoring integrity, competence, and accountability to governance in our country.
“History is patient. And when the story of this period in Nigeria’s democratic journey is written, Nigerians will remember those who stood to defend the integrity of our democracy, and those who chose to weaken it,” the party added.