Senate President Godswill Akpabio says Nigeria’s electoral process has witnessed remarkable improvement since the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) left power in 2015.
Speaking during Wednesday’s plenary session as the Senate debated a bill seeking to repeal the Electoral Act 2022 and introduce a new Electoral Bill 2025, Akpabio reflected on the country’s democratic journey and the lessons learned from past elections.
The Senate President, who governed Akwa Ibom State between 2007 and 2015 under the PDP and later served as a senator on the same platform, said elections during the PDP era were plagued by irregularities and manipulation.
“You will agree with me that since the PDP left, elections have improved tremendously in this country,” Akpabio said. “I recall that in 2007, when I was elected governor, the then President, the late Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, publicly admitted that the election that brought him to power was flawed and riddled with inconsistencies.”
Akpabio added that successive administrations have since worked to “block the holes” that previously enabled electoral malpractice. He noted that while challenges remain, the integrity of elections has been strengthened through reforms and technology.
The Senate President also weighed in on the controversy surrounding the interpretation of “two-thirds of the states and the FCT” in the 2023 presidential election, describing the debate as unnecessary.
“Some argued that winning the FCT alone was enough to become president,” he said. “That debate wasted valuable time until the Supreme Court clarified the issue.”
Akpabio stressed that the new Electoral Bill seeks to further strengthen Nigeria’s democracy by closing existing loopholes and ensuring greater transparency.
“We must find a way to block these gaps to build a stronger and more credible electoral system,” he concluded.
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