The Independent National Electoral Commission INEC has faulted the Socio-economic Rights and Accountability Project SERAP on its alleged neglect and non-prosecution of offenders arising from the 2023 General Election, especially Governors and Deputies found wanting for violations of electoral laws, describing the assertion by SERAP as misleading.
INEC in a statement by a National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Sam Olumekun said the allegations are untrue and fly in the face of facts already in the public domain.
INEC stressed that Governors and Deputy Governors have constitutional immunity from prosecution and SERAP cannot be unaware of that constitutional provision. It reiterated that the Commission has no record that anyone of them has been arrested, investigated and a prima facie case established to initiate their prosecution.
The Commission further revealed that if SERAP had done basic fact check, it would have known that at the end of the 2023 General Election, it 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 Commissions 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.
It emphasised how it engaged the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) under the leadership of the immediate past President, Yakubu Maikyau SAN, for assistance. How for the first time in the history of elections in Nigeria, concrete steps were taken between the NBA and the Commission to prosecute electoral offences. It said the NBA, working with a prominent and senior human rights lawyer, provided the Commission with a list of counsels nationwide, including Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs), who volunteered to render pro-bono services. Letters of instruction were given to them through the NBA and work commenced in earnest. As private lawyers, this satisfies the provision of Section145 (2) of the Electoral Act 2022 which empowers the Commission to engage external solicitors to assist it in the prosecution of electoral offences. So far, convictions/successful prosecutions have been recorded in Kebbi and Kogi States.
Similarly, it is well-known that the Commission has been working with the anti-graft agencies, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC), to discourage vote buying and prosecute vote buyers. Specifically, a special joint prosecution team of 18 lawyers drawn from the EFCC and INEC was set up to prosecute suspects. Through this joint effort, successful prosecutions have so far been recorded in Lagos, Gombe and Kwara States.
The Commission assured Nigerians that it will continue to discharge its responsibilities at all times, and it is not in contempt of court as alleged by SERAP.
