News Investigators/ The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has renewed its call for creation of the electoral offences tribunal to ensure speedy prosecution of electoral offenders in the country.
INEC Chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, made the call on Friday in Abuja during the commission’s regular quarterly consultative meeting with media executives.
Yakubu also emphasised the need for reforms and limited time for the prosecution of electoral offenders.
He said that the judicial and legislative action in the last few days underscored INEC’s effort to deal with offences involving officials of the commission, and the challenges 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 Elections.
“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,” he said.
The chairman said that so far, successful prosecutions had been recorded in Kogi and Kebbi.
He added that INEC’s collaboration with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on vote-buying had also yielded similar results in Lagos, Kwara and Gombe States.
According to him, electoral offences are not time-bound, as is the case with post-election offences through the tribunals, hence, many cases are still pending.
“This is a major obstacle to the speedy dispensation of justice.
“Electoral offenses are solely prosecuted by the magistrate and state high courts in the jurisdiction where the alleged offences are committed.
“Priority attention is not 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 time frame for the speedy dispensation of cases.
“I urge the media to join in this patriotic advocacy for the good of our electoral democracy,” he said.
The INEC chairman also appealed for the continuous support of all stakeholders, especially in critical area of reforms, including the conduct of by-elections which was on the increase.
“In the last three weeks alone, vacancies have occurred in one federal constituency and two state constituencies caused by the death of serving members.
‘In another state constituency, the assembly declared the seat vacant as a result of absenteeism.
“This followed the prolonged absence of the member from the assembly sittings in violation of Section 109(1)[f] of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999,’’ Yakubu said.
He called for media support towards the successful conduct of the Anambra governorship and FCT Area Council elections, and expressed INEC’s commitment to continuously improve on the electoral process.
“Every election or electoral activity presents its own unique challenge and an opportunity to learn lessons for improvement.
“The recent Ondo State Governorship election has been widely acknowledged to be an improvement, especially in the management of logistics and performance of election technology.
“We will strive harder to ensure the continuous improvement of our elections,” the chairman said.
Also, the President, Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Alhassan Yahaya, expressed the need for the National Assembly to set in motion the establishment of a special tribunal for electoral offenders.
Yahaya, represented by his National Secretary, Achike Chude, also tasked INEC on measures to reduce the cost of conducting elections in the country.
He expressed media support for INEC to succeed in the conduct of credible elections, saying the success of INEC was the success of Nigeria.
“The reality is that our future, our destiny in this country is already linked to one another. The success of INEC is the success of the Nigerian state,’’ Yahaya said.
NAN