Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has disclosed that about 774 alleged electoral offenders from the 2023 general elections are currently facing prosecution nationwide.
He stated this on Friday during a regular quarterly consultative meeting with the Media at the INEC Headquarters in Abuja, adding that the prosecutions are being conducted in partnership with the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA).
He said, “The recent successful prosecution of a Returning Officer in Akwa Ibom State is a case in point. The Commission has been diligently pursuing the case which arose from the 2019 General Election.
“In this particular case, it took nearly six years to achieve the successful prosecution at the trial court. Through our collaboration with the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) cases involving 774 alleged offenders from the 2023 General Election are being prosecuted.
“So far, 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.
“Furthermore, they are solely prosecuted by the Magistrate and State High Courts in the jurisdiction where the alleged offences are committed. No priority attention is given to such cases as the courts deal with a variety of other cases.
“Consequently, electoral offences are carried over from one General Election to another which may sometimes affect the diligent prosecution of the cases.”
