By Abiola Olawale
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has announced that it has kick-started the process of prosecuting 774 suspected electoral offenders of the 2023 general election.
INEC chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu made this revelations on Friday at a consultative meeting with media executives in Abuja.
According to him, the electoral body is committed to ensuring that no one goes scot free after violating election laws.
He said: “One of these areas of reform is the prosecution of electoral offenders. Judicial and legislative action in the last few days underscore our effort to deal with offences involving officials of the Commission assigned to carry out designated responsibilities. However, it also highlights the challenges we face in dealing with electoral offences.
“The recent successful prosecution of a Returning Officer in Akwa Ibom State is a case in point. The Commission has been diligently pursuing the case which arose from the 2019 General Election. In this particular case, it took nearly six years to achieve the successful prosecution at the trial court.
“Through our collaboration with the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) cases involving 774 alleged offenders from the 2023 General Election are being prosecuted. So far, successful prosecutions have been recorded in Kebbi and Kogi States while our collaboration with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on vote-buying has yielded similar results in Lagos, Kwara and Gombe States. Yet, many cases are still pending.
“Furthermore, they are solely prosecuted by the Magistrate and State High Courts in the jurisdiction where the alleged offences are committed. No priority attention is given to such cases as the courts deal with a variety of other cases.
“Consequently, electoral offences are carried over from one General Election to another which may sometimes affect the diligent prosecution of the cases. It is therefore imperative to renew our call for the creation of the Electoral Offences Tribunal that have a specific jurisdiction and limited timeframe for the speedy dispensation of cases. I urge the media to join in this patriotic advocacy for the good of our electoral democracy”, he urged.
The New Diplomat reports that this comes following the conviction of a Returning Officer in Akwa Ibom, Professor Ignatius Uduk.
It would be recalled thar Uduk was sentenced to three years in prison for publishing false election results and perjury.
