By Harry Awurumibe, Editor, Abuja Bureau
To ensure sanity in Nigeria’s elections, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has renewed its call for the establishment of an Electoral Offences Tribunal.
INEC Chairman Professor Mahmood Yakubu made the latest call at the First Quarterly Consultative Meeting with the Media which took place at the INEC Headquarters, Abuja.
Yakubu argued that while electoral processes had witnessed steady improvements, the prosecution of electoral offenders remain a critical challenge.
According to him, the major obstacle to the speedy dispensation of justice “is that electoral offences are not time-bound, as is the case with post-election offences through the tribunals.”
The INEC boss attributed the slow pace to the fact that electoral offences were being solely prosecuted by the Magistrate and State High Courts in the jurisdiction where the alleged offences were committed, where no priority attention is given to such cases as the courts deal with a variety of other cases.
“This has led to cases lingering for years, often carried over from one election cycle to another,” he lamented.
Highlighting the recent successful prosecution of a Returning Officer in Akwa Ibom State, Yakubu said: “The Commission has been diligently pursuing the case, which arose from the 2019 General Election. 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 casesare still pending.”
Speaking further, Yakubu stated that: “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.”
Acknowledging the media’s crucial role in the electoral process, the INEC Chairman assured that the critical partnership between the Commission and the media would be sustained in “the best interest of our electoral democracy.”
He recalled that 114 accredited media organisations deployed 721 personnel to cover the recent off-cycle governorship election in Edo State, just as 112 orgnaisations deployed over 700 staff for the Ondo State Goverorship election.
Prompt News reports that the INEC Chairman seized the opportunity to welcome the new President of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Comrade Alhassan Yahya, who was represented by the NUJ National Secretary, Mr. Chude Achike.
In his remarks, Achike Chude who represented the NUJ boss reaffirmed the Union’s commitment to working closely with INEC, saying, “our future, our destiny in this country is already linked to one another. The success of INEC is the success of the Nigerian state.”
While acknowledging INEC’s budgetary constraints, the NUJ President urged the Commission to explore cost-effective measures in executing electoral activities, given the prevailing economic realities in Nigeria.
He also implored the Commission INEC to consider an alternative to the Permanent Voter’s Card (PVC), such the national identity card, international passports, and driving licenses as a means of voter identification.
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