Falana: Court will continue to decide election results if offenders aren’t sanctioned

Femi Falana, human rights lawyer, says tribunals will continue to determine the outcome of elections in Nigeria if electoral offenders are not “severely” sanctioned.

Falana asked the national assembly to amend the Electoral Act of 2022 for the establishment of an electoral offences commission to arrest and prosecute offenders.

In a statement on Thursday, the human rights lawyer commended the collaboration between the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) for the prosecution of electoral offenders.

Recently, INEC announced that 191 case files of electoral offenders in the last elections have been prepared for prosecution.

For the prosecution, 191 lawyers, including 16 senior advocates of Nigeria (SAN) have agreed to take up cases free of charge.

Reacting to the development, Falana asked police and other security agencies to fast-track the probe of suspected electoral offenders arrested during the off-cycle elections.

“It is by ensuring the successful prosecution of the electoral offenders that Nigeria can put an end to the brazen manipulation of the democratic process by members of the political class and their cohorts,” he said.

“However, since this is an ad hoc arrangement, we urge the two houses of the national assembly to amend the Electoral Act 2022 to empower the federal government to establish an electoral offences commission to arrest, investigate and prosecute all electoral offenders in line with the recommendation of the Mohammed Uwais Electoral Reform Panel.

“The legislators should realise that unless electoral offenders are severely sanctioned, election results will continue to be determined by election petition tribunals and the courts.”