The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared on Tuesday that it set to commence the prosecution of Adamawa State Resident Electoral Commissioner and 215 others whose case files have been submitted by police.
Its chairman,Prof Mahmood Yakubu disclosed this while addressing resident electoral commissioners at the INEC headquarters,on Tuesday in Abuja.
He disclosed that the commission is in receipt of the case files of the Adamawa Resident Electoral Commissioner and 215 others after completion of police investigation, adding that the commission is collaborating with the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) towards their prosecution.
He said similar collaboration is ongoing with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission for the prosecution of those involved in vote buying.
He disclosed that about 427 lawyers have volunteered under the auspices of the NBA to prosecute the suspects pro bono, even as he insisted that the 2023 general elections was a huge success despite the divergent opinions expressed.
He added:”Our record shows that these elections have produced the most diverse outcomes ever recorded since 1999. Today, five political parties produced State Governors, seven parties won Senatorial seats, eight are represented in the House of Representatives and nine in State Houses of Assembly.
“Clearly, the 10th National Assembly is certainly the most diverse in party representation since 1999. In some States around the country, different political parties controlled the legislative and executive arms of Government. What is clear from these records also is that the days of single party dominance of our national politics are probably gone. Furthermore, many prominent candidates lost in the constituencies they contested, and political parties lost in some of their presumed strongholds.
” Accreditation of voters using the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) has generally been scored very high by voters. Our records show that the success rate for BVAS accreditation stands at 98% compared to the Smart Card Reader’s 29.2% during the 2019 general election” he stressed.
“We are working with the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) to prosecute the alleged offenders. Already, the NBA has submitted a list of 427 lawyers across the country who have volunteered to render pro bono services to the Commission.
“They are not charging legal fees but by mutual agreement the Commission will provide a token amount to cover for filing fees/expenses. We are most grateful to NBA and its President, Yakubu Maikyau SAN, for this historic collaboration.
” Similarly, we are working with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) on the prosecution of cases relating to vote buying and associated violations”.
The INEC boss said the meeting of the RECs was the first of “several internal debriefing meetings ” thay will culminate in engagements with stakeholders.
” I implore the Resident Electoral Commissioners, as senior officials of the Commission, to lead the discussion on all aspects of the election from preparations, conduct and aftermath frankly and constructively. Among other issues, I expect you to cover such specific areas as:
“Operational processes for the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) and general elections, including planning, organisation, coordination and evaluation of activities, focusing particularly on such specific issues as the issuance of voters’ cards, logistics, delivery of materials, deployment of personnel, etc.
“Legal framework for the conduct of elections with a view to addressing any key legal challenges that may have arisen prior to the 2023 General Election which were not envisaged before the election;
“Technologies deployed in the electoral process, including the INEC Voter Enrolment Device (IVED); INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV); Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS); party nomination portal; observer, media and polling/collation agents’ accreditation portals etc., focusing particularly on their performance;
“Effectiveness of overall administrative procedures and channels within the Commission in the coordination and execution of pre-election, election and post-election activities;
“Political party registration, party primaries and nomination of candidates for the 2023 General Election, as well as monitoring of the process.Process of recruitment, training, deployment and performance of all categories of ad-hoc staff during CVR and the General Election
“Strengthening the Commission’s cooperation and relations with other bodies such as MDAs, NGOs etc. and any other issues in the electoral process that are likely to impact the work of the Commission in future. “amongst other recommendations.
