Bayo Onanuga, special adviser to President Bola Tinubu on information and strategy, has strongly accused the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) of spreading wrong information about the Electoral Act, 2026.
Recall that opposition leaders including Atiku Abubakar, Rotimi Amaechi among others criticised the new law on Thursday, calling it “obnoxious,” a threat to democracy, and a purported attempt to solidify Nigeria’s one-party system.
On February 18, Tinubu signed the Electoral Act reform bill into law following its passage by the national assembly.
Key provisions in the Electoral Act include the electronic transmission of election results with manual collation as a fallback where technology fails.
Additionally, the legislation mandates that political parties use consensus and direct primaries to nominate a candidate.
The national legislature was urged to repeal and re-enact the law after the ADC and NNPP rejected the new provisions.
In a statement, Onanuga urged the NNPP and ADC to stop their “unwarranted outrage” and “constant lamentation” against the federal government, which is run by the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Read Also: BREAKING: Atiku, Obi, Amaechi, other opposition heavyweights reject Electoral Act
“The opposition, particularly the ADC, has turned irresponsible political statements into an art form, all in a bid to attract cheap headlines and mislead the public,” the statement reads.
“The opposition should stop exaggerating the effects of the new Electoral Act. Their inability to organise and their tendency to blame others for their own disorganisation and unpreparedness are evident.
“Contrary to their deliberate misinformation designed to incite the populace, the new Electoral Act, signed by President Tinubu, is a significant improvement over the repealed law, closing loopholes the opposition leaders sought to exploit for manipulation.”
According to Onanuga, the opposition parties are collaborating with certain civil society organisations to launch a disinformation campaign against the government and the legislature.
In support of the new law, the presidential assistant pointed out that it allows election results to be transmitted in real time while keeping form EC8A available in case of network outages.
According to Onanuga, the opposition’s argument that using form EC8A opens a door for manipulation is nonsensical and fails to take into account the actual technological difficulties in some regions of the nation.
Onanuga criticised the opposition’s rejection of direct primaries for selecting party candidates, describing their stance as “perplexing”.
He argued that direct primaries and consensus voting are more democratic than the delegate system previously used by many parties.
Additionally, the presidential spokesperson denied claims that Tinubu is preparing to establish a one-party state in Nigeria.
According to Onanuga, Nigeria still has over a dozen officially recognised political parties, such as the ADC and NNPP. He also stated that internal disarray, not any effort by the government to quell dissent, is the cause of the opposition’s difficulties.
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