From David Onuoja, Abuja
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has refuted an allegation by Socio-economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), that the Commission refused to prosecuted those that were involved in the electoral offences during the 2023 general election.
In a press released by the National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Sam Olumekun, said SERAP got it wrong as it supposed to know what it entailed concerning such a situation.
The statement explained that, “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 anyone of them has been arrested, investigated and a prima facie case established to initiate their prosecution”.
According to the statement, “These allegations are untrue and fly in the face of facts already in the public domain.
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“Furthermore, if SERAP had done 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 in respect of 536 suspects for the Governorship and State Assembly elections. It is important to also inform the public that the Commission’s commitment to the prosecution of electoral offenders is not limited to persons who are 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.
“In Recognition of the need for their speedy prosecution, the Commission has engaged the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) under the leadership of the immediate past President, Yakubu Maikyau SAN, for assistance.
“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; and it may take time.
“That is why the Commission has been in the forefront of the advocacy for electoral reform to make electoral offences time-bound for speedy prosecution of electoral offenders, including the establishment of an Electoral Offences Tribunal”, it explained.
He further explained that the Commission is not in contempt of court as was alleged.
