Reps Slam 10-Year Jail Terms for Election Forgery: Key Changes in New Electoral Bill

By Yahaya Idris

Nigeria’s House of Representatives just took a bold step to clean up future elections. On Tuesday, they passed the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill, 2025, through its third reading.

This comes just ahead of the 2027 general elections, aiming to hit electoral offenders where it hurts, with tougher penalties. The bill doesn’t hold back on punishments.

Convicted individuals face 10 years in prison or a whopping N75 million fine for serious crimes like: Forging nomination papers or election result forms

Lawmakers also hiked fines across the board and introduced a N5 million penalty for misusing a voter’s card.

These measures signal zero tolerance for manipulation.

Hon. Adebayo Balogun, Chairman of the House Committee on Electoral Matters, shared the timeline.

The Senate and House committees will harmonize the bill soon, then send it to the presidency for assent by the second week of January 2026. With 2027 elections looming, speed is key.

In a practical move, the House ruled that over-voting means deducting excess votes proportionately from all participating parties.

Presiding officers caught allowing this will face prosecution, no excuses.

No jail time for inducing delegates at party primaries (to avoid “political witch-hunts”) Scrapped the rule for mandatory fresh elections in over-voting cases

Proposals for early voting, inmate voting, and diaspora voting got the boot. Balogun explained unresolved issues like identity verification and registration challenges make them unfeasible right now.

Despite network glitches, presiding officers must transmit results from polling units as required by law.

This bill could reshape Nigeria’s electoral landscape.

What do you think, will these penalties actually stop fraud, or do we need more?

Share your thoughts in the comments!