The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Yakubu, has emphasized the need for urgent attention to electoral offenses in Nigeria.
According to Yakubu, regular courts are often overwhelmed with multiple responsibilities, which can lead to delays in prosecuting electoral offenses.
To address this challenge, INEC has partnered with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to successfully prosecute some electoral offenders.
For instance, a Returning Officer in Akwa Ibom state was recently prosecuted for electoral offenses committed during the 2019 General Election.
However, it took nearly six years to achieve this successful prosecution, highlighting the need for a more efficient and effective system.
INEC has also collaborated with the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) to prosecute cases involving 774 alleged offenders from the 2023 General Election.
Successful prosecutions have been recorded in Kebbi and Kogi States, while collaborations with the EFCC on vote-buying have yielded results in Lagos, Kwara, and Gombe States.
Despite these efforts, many cases are still pending due to the lack of priority attention given to electoral offenses.
Yakubu attributed this to the fact that electoral offenses are not time-bound, unlike post-election offenses, and are solely prosecuted by Magistrate and State High Courts.
This, he believes, leads to a lack of urgency in prosecuting electoral offenses, allowing perpetrators to go unpunished.
To address these challenges, Yakubu renewed his call for the creation of an Electoral Offences Tribunal with specific jurisdiction and limited timeframe for speedy dispensation of cases.
He urged the media to join in this advocacy for the good of Nigeria’s electoral democracy.
The President of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Mallam Alhassan Hahaha, also emphasized the need for the National Assembly to establish an electoral offenses commission and tribunal.
This, he believes, will take the responsibility of prosecution away from INEC and enable the commission to focus on its core responsibilities.
Hahaha noted that INEC has always been reluctant to prosecute offenders, not because they don’t want to, but because they have too many responsibilities.
He urged the National Assembly to set in motion the processes of creating an electoral offenses commission and tribunal to address this challenge.
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