LEGISLATIVE CONTINGENCY AND ELECTORAL TRANSPARENCY IN NIGERIA: MEDIA FRAMING, THE ELECTRONIC TRANSMISSION PROVISON AND PUBLIC TRUST UNDER THE ELECTORAL ACT 2026
Keywords:
Legislative Contingency, Political Communication, Media Framing, Electoral Act 2026, BVAS, IReV, Electronic Transmission, TransparencyAbstract
Nigeria's Electoral Act 2026, signed on 18 February 2026, introduced mandatory electronic result transmission, statutory recognition of the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV), mandatory use of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), and criminal sanctions for wilful upload obstruction. These reforms responded to structural failures exposed during the 2023 General Elections and subsequent litigation in Obi v. I.N.E.C. (No. 1) (2023). This paper examines the 2026 Act through legislative design analysis and political communication theory. It argues that the Act retains a reconstituted legislative contingency: the mandatory transmission obligation under Section 60(3) is qualified by an undefined "communication failure" proviso that preserves institutional discretion over the very transparency mechanisms the reform was designed to secure. Using doctrinal legal analysis, institutional analysis, and Afrobarometer survey data, the paper identifies three contingency mechanisms carried forward from the 2022 Act, evaluates the 2026 Act's partial remedies, and shows that residual contingency provisions will continue to interact with media narratives and public trust in ways that could undermine the 2027 elections. The paper recommends targeted amendments to close the remaining contingency gaps alongside a proactive political communication strategy to rebuild institutional credibility.
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