The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has clarified why individuals arrested for vote-buying during the recent Anambra State governorship election have not been arraigned.
Speaking at a stakeholders’ forum on elections organised by the Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room on Thursday in Abuja, the Chairman of INEC, Joash Amupitan, said the Commission cannot prosecute the suspects because security agencies have not submitted their investigation reports.
Amupitan noted that although INEC is empowered by law to prosecute electoral offenders, it lacks the statutory mandate and capacity to arrest suspects.
“I am happy to know that you are aware that some people were arrested, and people are saying, what have you done? We are reaching to the police. We are reaching to EFCC. We are reaching to all the other agencies. We will need reports on the investigations conducted in respect of those people that were arrested,” he said.
He added, “Because the power of INEC is to prosecute, not to arrest. We don’t have that capacity for now. We are liaising with the law engineering agencies to ensure that those that were arrested will have their day in court.”
According to Amupitan, safeguarding Nigeria’s democracy requires aligning technological advancement with genuine political responsibility.
He stressed that while the Commission continues to improve election technology, the outcome still depends heavily on the accountability of political actors.
The INEC chairman further lamented that poor telecommunication networks remain the Commission’s biggest challenge in achieving seamless, real-time upload of election results from the 176,000 polling units across the country.
He explained that several polling locations are in remote areas with inadequate connectivity, making real-time transmission difficult despite the Commission’s efforts.
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