INEC begins prosecution of electoral offenders, says Jega

Abuja - The Independent Natio"This is one area where we didn't do much in 2011. Not
that we didn't try but we were overwhelmed by the
numbers of offenders and we couldn't handle it.
"Now with partnership with other organisations, we should
be able to do so."
Jega admitted that do-or-die politics was evident in some
states and report of under-aged voting, adding, however,
that there was no substantial evidence to prove the
allegations.
He said that the commission would correct the anomalies
by stopping the production of Permanent Voter Cards
(PVCs) of under-aged.
The INEC chairman also said that besides prosecution,
electoral officers who were not staff of the commission
and ran away with result sheets would be reported to
their parent institutions.
Jega cited an example of an individual in Adamawa who
had bagged six months jail term for possessing multiple
PVCs.
He reaffirmed his decision not to seek second tenure as
the INEC boss, in spite calls by some Nigerians that he
should stay on.
"Man proposes and God disposes, as I speak with you, I
will rather do something else with my life,” he said.
Earlier, the Executive Director, Policy and Legal Advocacy
Centre (PLAC), Clement Nwankwo, commended INEC for
conducting free, fair and credible general elections.
Nwankwo called for improvement on some of the lapses
recorded during the pollsal Electoral Commission
(INEC) on Tuesday said that it had commenced the
prosecution of electoral offenders, including electoral
officers, in the 2015 general elections.
The Chairman of INEC, Prof. Attahiru Jega, disclosed this
at a dialogue with Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), a
coalition of over 60 CSOs, in Abuja.
Jega said at the first meeting with the group after the
elections, that those being prosecuted included a former
Director-General of the National Youth Service Corps
(NYSC) as well as youth corps members.
He called on the public to furnish the commission with
evidence of electoral breaches.
"Prior to the conduct of the elections, the Inspector-
General of Police was very proactive and established a
committee.
"The committee is headed by a Deputy Inspector-General
of Police to work with INEC for speedy prosecution of
electoral offenders,’’ he said.
"We believe that this will help us have more prosecution
of electoral offenders than in previous elections.
"Similarly, the Nigerian Bar Association has requested
INEC for a meeting, to further explore the possibility of
working together for them to provide some services to
hasten the process of prosecuting electoral offenders.
"Altogether, we should be able to prosecute as many
electoral offenders as we have evidence to prosecute.
"There are already clear cut cases where the police have
apprehended people red-handed.