By Janet Samuel, Abuja
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has urged the media to support the call for the establishment of an Electoral Offences Tribunal to ensure the swift prosecution of electoral offenders.
The Chairman made the call during the Commission’s first quarterly consultative meeting with media executives at the Commission’s headquarters in Abuja.
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He said that through INEC’s collaboration with the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), cases involving 774 alleged offenders from the 2023 general election are being prosecuted
Prof. Yakubu appealed for the continuous support of the Media, especially in critical areas of reform of which one is the prosecution of electoral offenders.
He also called on the media to amplify advocacy for the tribunal, stating that its establishment would enhance electoral integrity by ensuring swift prosecution of offenders, particularly those involved in vote-buying and electoral malpractice.
The Chairman said that the judicial and legislative action in the last few days underscored INEC’s effort to deal with offenses involving officials of the commission, and the challenges in dealing with electoral offences.
“No priority attention is given to such cases as the courts deal with a variety of other issues. Consequently, electoral offenses 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 offenses tribunal that has a specific jurisdiction and limited time frame for the speedy dispensation of cases.
“However, it also highlights the challenges we face in dealing with electoral offenses. The recent successful prosecution of a returning officer in Akwa Ibom State Niger Delta region is a case in point. The commission has been diligently pursuing the case which arose from the 2019 general election.
“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 cases are still pending. A major obstacle to the speedy dispensation of justice in this regard is that electoral offenses are not time-bound as is the case with post-election offenses through the tribunals.
Prof. Yakubu, who gave an update on INEC’s readiness to conduct a free and fair off-cycle election in Anambra State and the Local Councils’ election in the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, disclosed that, Anambra governorship election will hold on 8th November.
He urged the political parties interested in fielding candidates for the election to commence their primaries on the 20th day of March and end three weeks after.
In a remark. the National president of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), comrade Alhasan Yahaya, represented by the National Secretary, Mr Chude Achike, recommended that the Commission should engage the Media in their activities and ensure their full participation in educating the citizens on electoral matters
Achike further urged INEC to address all the irregularities encountered during the previous election so as to restore confidence to the Commission.
He also urged the Commission to consider an alternative to the Permanent Voter’s Card (PVC), such as the national identity card, international passports, and driving licenses as a means of voter identification.
