**Elections in FCT, Kano, and Rivers: Are We Headed for a Flourishing Democracy?** Last weekend, Nigeria witnessed crucial elections in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Kano, and Rivers states. The outcome of these elections has sparked heated debates and raised concerns about the credibility of our electoral process. Just three days after President Bola Ahmed Tinubu signed the Electoral Act 2026 into law, Nigerians were eager to see if the new law would indeed "enable us to conduct free and fair elections" as Senate President Godswill Akpabio promised. The elections in question included the FCT's municipal areas, where six Chairmen and 62 councillors were elected, as well as by-elections in Rivers and Kano states to fill vacant seats in the House of Assembly. The results, however, left much to be desired. In the FCT, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) swept all the chairmanship positions, raising eyebrows about the electoral commission's ability to manage the process impartially. The controversy surrounding the Electoral Act 2026 had largely centered on Section 60 (3), which deals with the mandatory real-time electronic transmission of results from polling units to the INEC Results Viewing Portal (IREV). After much back-and-forth, the National Assembly settled on a hybrid format, which, in essence, did not introduce any groundbreaking changes to the electoral process. The test of the new law came in the form of these elections, and unfortunately, they did little to inspire confidence in the system. The elections have raised more questions than answers about the role of stakeholders in the electoral process, including the electoral commission, security agencies, and political parties. Will we see a repeat of these concerns in the general elections of 2027? The verdict is still out, but one thing is clear: Nigerians are not convinced that the Electoral Act 2026 is the panacea for electoral malpractices. As this column previously noted, "the best electoral framework can be designed with good intentions; it would take more than an amended Electoral Act to prevent electoral fraud." It seems that nothing has changed, and Nigerians are left wondering if we are indeed headed for a flourishing democracy.