THE Independent National Electoral Commission INEC has succeeded in filing one hundred and twenty-five electoral offences in various courts from the 2015 general elections to date.
Chairman of the Commission Professor Mahmud Yakubu, disclosed this during a public hearing on a bill to establish an electoral offences tribunal, organized by the House of Representatives in Abuja.
Prof. Mahmud Yakubu said of the total cases, sixty convictions have been secured including the most recent one in Akwa Ibom State.
The INEC chairman, who expressed support for the bill confirmed that the commission would be happy to witness more prosecutions of offenders, apart from ballot box snatchers, falsifiers of election results vote buyers and their sponsors.
He, however, proposed the establishment of an electoral tribunal with exclusive jurisdiction to try electoral offenders to avoid over-stretching regular courts.
In her submission, Assistant Commander of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission EFCC, Mrs Deborah Adamu Eteh, stressed the need to strengthen existing law enforcement agencies instead of creating a new agency for investigation and prosecution since elections are seasonal.
In a message, Speaker of the House of Representatives Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila, observed that electoral crimes lead to corrupt and violent political leadership and assist election offenders to take control of governments against the will of the electorates.(FRCN/Accurate)
