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INEC Delays Trial Of 197 Electoral Offenders
The Independent National Electoral Commission is yet to prosecute 197 electoral offenders months after the 2023 general elections, The PUNCH gathered.
The commission had on May 2, 2023, said it would prosecute the 215 case files handed over to it out of the 774 persons arrested for various electoral offences by the Nigeria Police Force during the 2023 polls.
The commission said it was partnering with the Nigerian Bar Association, which offered pro bono legal services for the effective prosecution of the electoral offenders arrested during the 2023 general elections.
However, a top INEC official, who spoke to our correspondent on Monday on the condition of anonymity, noted that out of the 215 files received by the commission, 197 cases that are electoral offences would be handled by INEC and the NBA.
Among the various grounds of arrest were dereliction of duty, criminal conspiracy, disorderly conduct at the election, possession of weapons, destruction of election materials, political thuggery, electoral violence, snatching of ballot boxes, and stealing of sensitive election materials, among others.
He clarified that the remaining 18 case files, including murder, were returned to the police as they did not fall under electoral offences.
The source stated, “There are 197 NBA lawyers handling the 197 electoral offenders’ cases.
“The remaining 18 cases were returned to the police because they did not fall squarely under electoral offences provided by the Electoral Act, 2022.”
The official also noted that about 19 cases that relate to financial crimes would be handled by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission legal officers and that of INEC.
He stated, “These 19 cases were investigated and compiled by the EFCC. They are not part of the cases forwarded by the police.
“The commission has only one case file forwarded to INEC by the ICPC.”
However, he further admitted that the INEC had yet to commence prosecution as the members of the NBA appointed to handle these electoral offences were yet to be issued letters of instruction by the commission.
He said, “The commission is yet to commence prosecution. It is hoped that the letters initiating the NBA lawyers to start the prosecution would be issued this week.”
The source also added that there may be a likelihood of more electoral offences from the off-cycle polls scheduled for November 11 in Kogi, Bayelsa, and Imo states.
When contacted, the Chief Press Secretary to the INEC Chairman, Rotimi Oyekanmi, promised to get an update on the cases and provide a response later. He had yet to do so as of the time of filing this report.
The Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, SAN has warned against obstructing the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) from carrying out its lawful duty .
Fagbemi’s warning is contained in a statement in Abuja.
“This is a matter of very grave concern, it is now beyond doubt that the EFCC is given power by the law to invite any person of interest to interact with them in the course of their investigations into any matter, regardless of status.
“Therefore, the least that we can all do when invited, is not to put any obstruction in the way of EFCC, but to honourably answer their invitation.
“A situation where public officials who are themselves subject of protection by law enforcement agents will set up a stratagem of obstruction to the civil and commendable efforts of the EFCC to perform its duty is to say the least, insufferably disquieting’’.
He added that running away from the law will not resolve issues at stake but only exacerbate them.
“Nigeria has a vibrant judicial system that is capable of protecting everyone who follows the rule of law in seeking protection.
“I therefore encourage anyone who has been invited by the EFCC or any other agency to immediately toe the path of decency and civility by honouring such invitation instead of embarking on a temporising self-help and escapism.
“This can only put our country in bad light before the rest of the world’’.
He said institutions of state should be allowed to function effectively and efficiently.
“I stand for the rule of law and will promptly call EFCC, and indeed any other agency to order when there is an indication of any transgressions of the fundamental rights of any Nigerian by any of the agencies’’.
NAN reports that the EFCC had on Wednesday warned members of the public that it was a criminal offence to obstruct officers of the Commission from carrying out their lawful duties.
Section 38(2)(a(b) of the EFCC Establishment Act makes it an offence to prevent officers of the Commission from carrying out their lawful duties. Culprits risk a jail term of not less than five years.
The warning , the EFCC said, became necessary against the background of the increasing tendency by persons and groups under investigation by the Commission to take the laws into their hands by recruiting thugs to obstruct lawful operations of the EFCC.
On several occasions, the anti graft agency said, operatives of the Commission have had to exercise utmost restraint in the face of such provocation to avoid a breakdown of law and order.
Some unknown gunmen have kidnapped Joshua Rogers, the ChannelsTV reporter in Port-Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.
Politics Nigeria learnt that Rogers was picked up close to his residence at Rumuosi in Port Harcourt and to an unknown destination by the gunmen around 9pm on Thursday, April 11.
The reporter was driving his official ChannelsTV branded car when the hoodlums accosted, pointed a gun at him and took him away in the same vehicle.
Rogers was said to be returning from his official assignment in Government House after a trip to Andoni for a government event when the incident happened.
Already, the gunmen were said to have contacted his wife and demanded a N30million ransom for bis release.
His cameraman confirmed the incident and appealed to his abductors to set him free unconditionally.
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