The Independent National Electoral Commission and the Nigerian Bar Association will commence the prosecution of electoral offenders in January, INTEGRITY NEWS has learnt.

Since 1999, there has been hardly any election that has not been characterised by offences in one form or the other.

Such electoral offences include culpable homicide and unlawful possession of firearms, snatching and destroying of INEC items, misconduct at polling units and stealing of results, among others.

On June 30, 2022, a bill to establish the National Electoral Offences Commission passed a second reading in the House of Representatives.

A similar bill was passed by the Senate and sent to the President for assent, but it was sent back to the House for further deliberations.

The bill is to provide the legal framework for the investigation and prosecution of electoral offences for the general improvement of the electoral process in the country.

The bill passed by the upper chamber prescribes a 20-year jail term for offenders found guilty of snatching ballot boxes during elections.

On January 17, 2023, the INEC Chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, urged the National Assembly to speed up legislative work on the Electoral Offences Commission and Tribunal Bill.

Yakubu, who appealed in his presentation at the Royal Institute of International Affairs, Chatham House, London, United Kingdom, expressed helplessness about the prosecution of electoral offenders.

The INEC boss stated, “Although the commission is empowered by the Electoral Act to prosecute electoral offences, it lacks the power and resources to make arrests and thoroughly investigate electoral offences.

“Efforts at mitigating electoral malfeasance can only become effective with the arrest, prosecution, and sanctioning of the ‘mother spiders’ to end their reign of impunity.

“It is for this reason that INEC supports the establishment of the Electoral Offences Commission and Tribunal imbued with the responsibility of prosecuting electoral offences as recommended in the reports of various committees set up by the Federal Government, notably the Uwais Committee (2009), the Lemu Committee (2011) and the Nnamani Committee (2017).”

Following the February 25 presidential and National Assembly elections, the immediate past Inspector-General of Police, Usman Baba, said over 700 offenders were arrested by men of the Nigeria Police Force for violation of electoral laws.

Baba disclosed this during a meeting with commissioners of police from the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory, as well as other senior officers on March 27, 2023.