Why Nigeria Needs A Special Court For Electoral Crimes – INEC

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has renewed its call for the establishment of a dedicated tribunal to handle electoral offences.

According to INEC Chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, the backlog of unresolved electoral offence cases has made it necessary to create a specialised court for swift justice.

Speaking at the commission’s first quarterly consultative meeting with the media in Abuja, Yakubu highlighted the challenges of prosecuting electoral offences within the current judicial system.

“A major obstacle to the speedy dispensation of justice in this regard is that electoral offences are not time-bound as is the case with post-election offences through the tribunals.

“Furthermore, they are solely prosecuted by the Magistrate and State High Courts in the jurisdiction where the alleged offences are committed,” the INEC chief told the gathering.

He noted that electoral offences often receive little priority in the regular courts, as they compete with other legal matters. This delay means some cases remain unresolved for years, sometimes carrying over into subsequent election cycles.

Yakubu, therefore, emphasised the urgent need for a specialised Electoral Offences Tribunal with exclusive jurisdiction and a defined timeframe for handling such cases.

“No priority attention is given to such cases as the courts deal with a variety of other cases. Consequently, electoral offences are carried over from one General Election to another which may sometimes affect the diligent prosecution of the cases. It is therefore imperative to renew our call for the creation of the Electoral Offences Tribunal that have a specific jurisdiction and limited timeframe for the speedy dispensation of cases,” he added.

Citing a recent example, the INEC chairman pointed out that a returning officer in Akwa Ibom was only convicted after nearly six years of legal proceedings following the 2019 general election.

“The recent successful prosecution of a Returning Officer in Akwa Ibom State is a case in point. The Commission has been diligently pursuing the case which arose from the 2019 General Election. In this particular case, it took nearly six years to achieve the successful prosecution at the trial court,” he said.

INEC, in collaboration with the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), is currently prosecuting 774 electoral offenders from the 2023 general elections, with successful convictions recorded in Kebbi and Kogi States.

Additionally, its partnership with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has led to convictions for vote-buying in Lagos, Kwara, and Gombe States.

However, many cases remain unresolved, reinforcing INEC’s call for a specialised tribunal to expedite justice.

“Through our collaboration with the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) cases involving 774 alleged offenders from the 2023 General Election are being prosecuted. So far, successful prosecutions have been recorded in Kebbi and Kogi States while our collaboration with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on vote-buying has yielded similar results in Lagos, Kwara, and Gombe States. Yet, many cases are still pending,” he concluded.