INEC, NBA to commence prosecution of suspects arrested during general election

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it will soon commence the prosecution of 1,076 electoral offenders arrested in 35 states across the country during the general election.

According to NAN, a source from the commission said the prosecution would be done in collaboration with the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) and the police.

The source said 191 case files have been prepared for the prosecution.

NAN quoted Yakubu Maikyau, NBA president, as saying 191 lawyers, including 16 senior advocates of Nigeria (SAN) have agreed to take up cases in the various states free of charge.

A breakdown of the distribution of the cases by state reveals that Ebonyi tops the list with 64, involving 216 suspects.

Edo is second with 22 cases and 80 suspects, while Anambra is third with 12 cases involving 66 suspects.

Kaduna is fourth with 11 cases and 36 suspects and Adamawa ranks fifth with 10 cases, and 17 suspects.

Also, Kano, Rivers and Osun states share the fifth position with nine cases each involving 74, 68 and 47 suspects, respectively.

Yobe has the least with just one case file implicating two suspects.

The electoral offences committed range from culpable homicide, unlawful possession of firearms, snatching and destroying of INEC items, and misconduct at polling units etc.

Rotimi Oyekanmi, chief press secretary to INEC chairman, said the NBA returned 26 case files to the commission for onward transmission to the police.

He said those offences do not fall under the electoral offences as defined by the Electoral Act 2022.

Oyekanmi added that the commission is also aware that suspects involved in 22 out of the cases are either at large or were never apprehended.

”The suspects linked to the case files are in custody, they have been investigated and the necessary evidence against them harvested,” he said.