Get Guardian on GoogleA South-west socio-political group, Yoruba Ronu Leadership Forum, has faulted the National Assembly for excluding certificate forgery and qualification issues as grounds for election petitions in the Electoral Act 2026 (as amended).
The group also called on the Federal Government to make public the full details of the law, rather than releasing it piecemeal since it was signed.
In a statement yesterday, president of the forum, Akin Malaolu, condemned Section 138 (1) of the amended Act, which provides that an election may only be questioned on two grounds, whether it was invalid by reason of corrupt practices or non-compliance with the provisions of the Act, or that the respondent was not duly elected by a majority of lawful votes cast.
He noted that subsection (3) further prescribes penalties of not less than N5 million for counsel and N10 million for petitioners who file cases outside the stipulated grounds.
According to the group, the omission of “qualification.”, including allegations of certificate forgery, marks a significant departure from previous electoral frameworks where such issues were recognised as valid grounds for election petitions.
Malaolu criticised lawmakers, accusing them of being sympathetic to criminal acts such as forgery in relation to educational requirements for elective offices.
