The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has disclosed that 1,076 electoral offenders arrested during the general elections and gubernatorial elections held in February and March 2023 respectively would be prosecuted with the support of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA).

This was disclosed to the NDR by the Chief Press Secretary to the INEC Chairman, Mr Rotimi Oyekanmi, “there are 1,076 electoral offenders arrested across the 36 states in the country, with Ebonyi State having the highest number of offenders” he said in a statement.

Mr. Oyekanmi added that the collaboration with the Nigeria Police has aided the commission’s activity in preparing 191 case files against the offenders. Breaking this down he said that 64 cases have been prepared for Ebonyi state out of the 216 suspects involved in the electoral offences. He also noted that Edo State has 22 cases with 80 suspects, while Anambra is third with 12 cases involving 66 suspects.

Mr. Oyekanmi listed the various electoral offences that the perpetrators had committed, stating that they included, among other things, “culpable homicide and unlawful possession of firearms, snatching and destroying of INEC items,” “being in possession of offensive weapons,” misbehaviour at the polling place, and stealing of election results.

The statement fully reads: “All is now set for the prosecution of 1,076 electoral offenders arrested in 35 states across the country during the 2023 general election held in February and March, in an unprecedented collaboration between the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA). The Nigeria Police is also involved in the synergy.

“President of the NBA and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Mr. Yakubu Maikyau had, during a recent courtesy visit of the Association’s delegation to the Commission, pledged that NBA members would provide legal services pro bono for the prosecution of electoral offenders as a service to the fatherland. In fulfilment of that pledge, Maikyau in a recent letter to the INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, listed 191 lawyers including 16 Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs), that have accepted to take up cases in the various states free of charge, with the assistance of the Police and INEC for diligent prosecution. The suspects linked to the case files are in custody, they have been investigated and the necessary evidence against them has been harvested.

“However, he noted that the NBA returned 26 case files to the Commission for onward transmission to the Police because the offences involved do not fall under the electoral offences as defined by the Electoral Act 2022. Besides, suspects involved in 22 out of the cases are either at large or were never apprehended.

“However, 191 case files have been prepared. A breakdown of the distribution by state reveals that Ebonyi has the highest number of cases – 64 – involving 216 suspects. Edo State is second with 22 cases and 80 suspects, while Anambra is third with 12 cases involving 66 suspects.

“In the same vein, Kaduna is fourth with 11 cases and 36 suspects; Adamawa ranks fifth with 10 cases, and 17 suspects, while Kano, Rivers and Osun states share the fifth position with nine cases each involving 74, 68 and 47 suspects respectively. Yobe State is at the bottom of the table, with just one case file implicating two suspects.

“The electoral offences committed range from “culpable homicide and unlawful possession of firearms”, “snatching and destroying of INEC items,” “being in possession of offensive weapons”, and “Misconduct at the polling unit and stealing of election results” amongst several others”