No fewer than 197 electoral offenders are yet to be prosecuted by the Independent National Electoral Commission months after the 2023 general elections.
According to The PUNCH, a top INEC official. noted that out of the 215 files received by the commission, 197 cases that are electoral offences would be handled by INEC and the NBA.
The commission had on May 2, 2023, said it would prosecute the 215 case files handed over to it out of the 774 persons arrested for various electoral offences by the Nigeria Police Force during the 2023 polls.
The commission said it was partnering with the Nigerian Bar Association, which offered pro bono legal services for the effective prosecution of the electoral offenders arrested during the 2023 general elections.
Among the various grounds of arrest were dereliction of duty, criminal conspiracy, disorderly conduct at the election, possession of weapons, destruction of election materials, political thuggery, electoral violence, snatching of ballot boxes, and stealing of sensitive election materials, among others.
He clarified that the remaining 18 case files, including murder, were returned to the police as they did not fall under electoral offences.
The source stated, “There are 197 NBA lawyer handling the 197 electoral offenders’ cases.
“The remaining 18 cases were returned to the police because they did not fall squarely under electoral offences provided by the Electoral Act, 2022.”
“These 19 cases were investigated and compiled by the EFCC. They are not part of the cases forwarded by the police.
“The commission has only one case file forwarded to INEC by the ICPC.”
