The chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC), Professor Mahood Yakubu has said that of the numerous responsibilities carried out by the Commission, the prosecution of electoral offenders, has been one of the most challenging.
Yakubu said this at a one public hearing organized by the Senate committee on INEC in Abuja on the Bill for the establishment of the Electoral Offences Commission 2021.
According to the Chairman, the 2015 General Election about 125 cases of electoral offences were filed in various courts out of which 60 convictions have been secured so far, including the most recent one in Akwa Ibom State.
He equally pointed out that INEC is saddled with so many responsibilities ranging from the registration and regulation of political parties, registration of voters, delineation of constituencies, conduct of elections/bye-elections/referendum/recall and prosecution of electoral offences, among others, making it very huge herculean tasks.
The Chairman said that “the Commission would like to see more successful prosecution of offenders, not just of ballot box snatchers and falsifiers of election results but most importantly their sponsors. We look forward to the day when highly placed sponsors of thuggery, including party chieftains and candidates that seek to benefit from violations of the law are apprehended. We believe that the work of the proposed Commission will help in this regard”.
He appealed to the National Assembly for the expeditious passage of the Electoral Offences Commission (Establishment) Bill 2021 and the pending review of the electoral legal framework generally.
Professor Yakubu also noted that by principle established by the Commission, the 2023 General Election will hold on Saturday 18th February 2023. “We hope to release the Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the General Election immediately after the Anambra Governorship election scheduled to hold on 6th November 2021. In order to do so, there should be clarity and certainty about the electoral legal framework to govern the election, he added.
