Northern leader attacks Tinubu, says Electoral Act 2026 designed to frustrate opposition

A chieftain of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Buba Galadima, has accused the administration of President Bola Tinubu of undermining democracy and using the Electoral Act 2026 to weaken opposition parties ahead of future elections.

Galadima, who is Secretary of the Board of Trustees of the New Nigeria Peoples Party, made the allegations on Saturday during the aspirants’ summit of the Nigeria Democratic Congress held in Abuja.

He alleged that the ruling All Progressives Congress had concluded work on the electoral bill before it was formally presented to the National Assembly.

According to him, the speed with which the bill was signed into law raised questions about the legislative process.

“By the time the National Assembly deliberated and finalised on the draft electoral bill, within an hour, the President was signing the bill,” he said.

“Did he study that bill? So, it means they have already prepared a bill before him.”

Galadima further argued that provisions in the Electoral Act 2026 were deliberately structured to make it difficult for opposition parties to field candidates successfully.

He noted that the law only permits parties to produce candidates through consensus arrangements or direct primaries.

According to him, the APC believed opposition parties would struggle to agree on consensus candidates and would therefore be forced into conducting direct primaries, which he claimed could easily be disrupted.

“One of them, which concerns this summit, is that you can only generate candidates through two ways. That is, through consensus or through direct primaries,” he stated.

He added, “No political party in the opposition can do direct primaries and come out completely clean.”

Galadima described the NDC as the strongest political platform capable of challenging the APC in future elections, insisting that opposition parties must prioritise unity to avoid internal crises.

“The party cannot afford to do primaries because they will send people to disrupt everything and we end up without a candidate,” he said.

He urged party members and stakeholders to rally behind whichever candidates emerge through internal agreements, stressing that loyalty and unity would be critical to defeating the ruling party.