There’s No Evidence That Nigerian Police Prosecuted Electoral Offenders Arrested During 2023 Polls – European Union

The EU in its report noted that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) repeatedly invoked gaps in the law as the reason for its inability to pursue electoral offenders.

The European Union Election Observation Mission (EU EOM) has said there is no evidence that the Nigeria Police Force prosecuted the electoral offenders who were arrested during 2023 polls.

The EU in its report noted that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) repeatedly invoked gaps in the law as the reason for its inability to pursue electoral offenders.

The EU EOM in the 94-page final report released on Tuesday, about four months after the general elections, added that the security agencies reported making arrests, but no evidence of prosecution.

The report read; “The electoral law has a well-articulated body of sanctions for breaches of the electoral law before, during and after elections punishable by fines and or terms of detention. However, there is widespread belief that offenders go largely unpunished.

“Despite being the key institution charged with prosecutions, INEC has repeatedly invoked gaps in the law as the reason for its inability to pursue electoral offenders. The 2022 Act failed to close legal lacunae, leaving INEC without powers to effectively pursue offenders.

“Consequently, INEC can only take effective action if other agencies seized with those powers, such as police or the EFCC, issue prosecution files to INEC.

“During elections, INEC stated that it was collaborating with other bodies including the police, EFCC and the ICPC to tackle crimes, in particular, vote-buying and abuse of state resources, however there was no public indication of the operational framework for the collaboration, especially to assure the public of genuine accountability of detected offenders.

“EU EOM observers noted apart from the presence of security forces including police and Department of State Services (DSS), EFCC and ICPC officers were also active during the election period. Both latter agencies also reported making arrests, but were also subjected to attacks on some of their staff.

“EU EOM observers noted that prior to and particularly in the post 25 February period, police around the country had arrested, detained and charged various offenders. However, there was limited evidence of expeditious prosecutions.

“A 27 March police press release noted that the IGP ‘assured of effective collaboration with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to expeditiously and transparently prosecute the 781 electoral offenders apprehended from a total of 489 major electoral infractions across the nation, as all Commands were tasked with submitting casefiles centrally for coordinated processing to INEC Legal Section.

“At the time of writing there is a lack of information on how successfully those who were apprehended have been prosecuted and sanctioned. EU EOM observers noted generally varied institutional practices in particular in engagement between INEC and police authorities, which appeared to lack a solid framework for consistent inter-institutional communication and transparent timely reporting.

“INEC and other stakeholders have advocated for a dedicated Electoral Offences Commission to address shortcomings in law and practice; however, a draft law has been lingering in the National Assembly for several years.

The EFCC indicated to the EU EOM that, given its capacity in addressing financial crimes, it is well placed to fill the vacuum.”