The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said that it is constrained to prosecute electoral offenders due to the failure of the national assembly to pass the National Electoral Offences Commission Bill, 2022.
The commission’s chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, stated this at an interactive session with line editors in Lagos at weekend.
Addressing the journalists, Yakubu said the power to prosecute electoral offenders fully rests upon INEC.
“But we are constrained to prosecute any electoral offender due to the deficit of legislation,” he said while calling the federal legislature to expedite action on the passage of the bill.
He pointed out that the commission is not responsible for the arrest of electoral offence suspects.
“Also, INEC does not have the power to investigate electoral offences. These are challenges we are facing in prosecuting suspects of electoral offences,” he added.
He said until the two chambers of the national assembly pass the law there was nothing the INEC could do if certain issues were not resolved.
He therefore appealed to the lawmakers to pass the bill into law, saying the country’s electoral process would remain ineffective without proper agency to deal with electoral offences.
Yakubu also emphasised the need to build a positive electoral culture in the country, noting that the INEC “is not happy that most electoral offenders are let off the hook because INEC lacks the legislative backing to prosecute electoral offenders.
“Until a bill for an act to establish the National Electoral Offences Commission becomes operational, INEC will not be able to expeditiously deal with electoral offenders.
He further disclosed that the commission planned to conduct the 2023 elections in 176, 846 polling units across the federation, saying it ‘is the responsibility of the INEC to conduct election.”
He added that security agencies had the duty “to provide security across the federation. We have done it before. We did it in Anambra. Edo is even more difficult because of insecurity. Like we did in Anambra and Edo, we are equally determined to do it now.”
He noted that the commission “is working with security agencies under the auspices of the Inter-agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES) to ensure elections are conducted across the federation in 2023.”
At the meeting were also INEC national commissioner and chairman, information and voter education committee, Mr. Festus Okoye; resident electoral commissioner in Lagos State, Mr. Olusegun Agbaje; INEC national commissioner, legal services, Mrs. May Agbamuche-Mbu; and INEC national commissioner, outreach and partnership, Prof. Kunle Ajayi, among others.
With ThisDay report
