Time To Punish Electoral Offenders

The illegal activities of political actors in the just concluded 2023 general elections have reinforced the need for tough punitive actions against electoral offenders and for accelerated actions towards passing the bill for the establishment of the Electoral Offences Commission into law, which many believe would provide a better legal framework to deal with electoral crimes.

Both in the presidential/National Assembly elections that took place on February 25, 2023, and the governorship and state legislative elections conducted on March 18, there were widespread activities of political thugs who not only snatched ballot boxes and destroyed election materials but attacked voters both at polling areas and in the streets.  As a result, the general elections were generally characterised by violence, voter suppression and intimidation, vote trading and falsification of results, among others. In fact, many willing voters were prevented from exercising their franchise if they were not going to vote in a certain way, and many were bruised, bloodied and even killed in their attempt to exercise the right to vote.

On the part of the officials, many electoral officers were reported to have failed, refused, to follow the guidelines, resulting in a large section of the populace doubting the integrity of INEC and the electoral process it had overseen. On the part of security agents, while many of them performed creditably, there were a lot of complaints that they not only failed to protect the voters – despite giving copious assurances that they were ready to safeguard the voters and their rights – but that a few bad eggs among them joined in undermining the process by turning themselves into willing tools in the hand of desperate politicians to snatch ballot boxes and oppress opposition politicians.

Therefore, it is not surprising that there have been strident calls from home and abroad for the punishment of electoral offenders.

Both the United States of America and the United Kingdom frowned at the wilful breaches of the electoral process by the political elite and have vowed to take action on them.

The United States Mission in Nigeria denounced the violent voter intimidation and suppression that took place in Lagos, Kano and other states and called on Nigerian authorities to bring to justice any individuals found culpable. For its part, it would consider all available actions, including additional visa restrictions, on individuals believed to have undermined the elections.

The United Kingdom is also ready to take action against electoral offenders in Nigeria after it revealed that it was collating names of politicians it would impose visa bans on and other sanctions for their engagement in electoral fraud and anti-democratic activities.

Here in Nigeria, several individuals and civil society organisations have added their voices to this demand to punish electoral crimes.                                                                                                                                          The Joint Conference of Northern States Civil Society Networks lamented the commercialisation of the party primary elections, saying it had institutionalised vote-buying which eventually translated and resurfaced in the general election.

The group called on the authorities to punish electoral offenders of any kind no matter how highly placed they are to discourage others from perpetrating electoral offences.

Similarly, the Muslim Media Watch Group of Nigeria (MMWG) called on the police authorities to ensure that those arrested for electoral crimes during elections throughout the country face the full wrath of the law.

It lamented that in all elections held in the country so far, prosecution and punishment for election offences have been non-existent; and that this year’s election must not go the same way.

As a newspaper, we commend the US and UK for this move, for Nigeria’s elite often get away with political crimes.

As a newspaper we commend both the US and UK governments for their move to impose sanctions on Nigeria’s political elite who often get away with electoral offences in their home country. It will send a clear signal to them that the whole world is taking note of their illegal activities.

We also call on the Nigerian authorities to quickly prosecute those already in their custody for various infractions. It is heartwarming that, according to the inspector-general of the police, no fewer than 203 electoral offenders arrested in 20 states during the just concluded general election would soon face prosecution. However, the magnitude of the infractions show that this number is just a scratch. The police authorities need to carry out more investigations and bring in more suspects for trial, with many of them caught on videos committing electoral offences.

Finally, we urge the present National Assembly to quicken the passage of the Executive Bill forwarded to it for the establishment of National Electoral Offences Commission before the end of its tenure.