By David Lawani, Abuja
The Independent National Electoral Commission has said that the lack of time-bound and speedy trials has delayed the prosecution of electoral offences.
The commission debunked the Socio-economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) ‘s claim that it lacked the willpower to prosecute electoral offenders.
Sam Olumekun, the National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee, said this yesterday in Abuja.
He said, “The prosecution of electoral offence is prolonged because electoral offences are not time-bound, unlike pre-election and post-election cases, which must be determined within 180 days at the trial court/tribunal and a maximum of 60 days at each layer of appeal.
“Furthermore, under Section 145 (1) of the Electoral Act 2022, electoral offences are prosecuted in the jurisdiction where the alleged offence is committed and by the State judiciary. Some cases can go on for several years.
“That is why the Commission has been at the forefront of the advocacy for electoral reform to make electoral offences time-bound for speedy prosecution of electoral offenders, including establishing an Electoral Offences Tribunal.”
The Commission noted further that the mischaracterization of information by SERAP should not be allowed to stay.
“Our attention has been drawn to media reports attributed to the Socio-economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) accusing the Commission of failure or neglect to prosecute electoral offenders arising from the 2023 general elections.
“Specifically, SERAP accused the Commission of failure to engage independent counsels to prosecute unnamed Governors and Deputy Governors for sundry violations of electoral laws. It also accused the Commission of failing to engage private lawyers to prosecute other electoral offences, including vote buying during the same election. These allegations are untrue and fly in the face of facts already in the public domain.
“In the first place, Governors and Deputy Governors have constitutional immunity from prosecution. SERAP cannot be unaware of this constitutional provision. In any case, the Commission has no record that any of them has been arrested or investigated, and a prima facie case was established to initiate their prosecution.
Furthermore, if SERAP had done a basic fact check, it would have known that at the end of the 2023 General Election, the Commission announced that it received 215 case files from the Nigeria Police following the arrest and investigation of alleged violators of the electoral laws across the country.
“These include 52 files involving 238 alleged offenders during the Presidential and National Assembly elections and 163 files regarding 536 suspects for the Governorship and State Assembly elections. It is also important to inform the public that the Commission’s commitment to prosecuting electoral offenders is not limited to persons outside the Commission.
“Indeed, officials of the Commission, some of them highly placed, have been affected, including a Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) currently being prosecuted in a High Court in Yola.”
“Recognising the need for their speedy prosecution and bearing in mind that the Commission does not have enough in-house lawyers, it engaged the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) under the leadership of the immediate past President, Yakubu Maikyau SAN, for assistance.
“The NBA agreed, and a well-publicised joint press conference was held between the Chairman of the Commission and the President of the NBA. The Chairman of the Commission and other officials have also been providing updates to the public on the matter as simple google search will show.
“For the first time in Nigeria’s elections history, concrete steps were taken between the NBA and the Commission to prosecute electoral offences. Working with a prominent and senior human rights lawyer, the NBA provided the Commission with a list of counsels nationwide, including Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs), who volunteered to render pro-bono services.”
