INEC Set To Prosecute 2019 Election Offenders

The Independent National Electoral Commission INEC is set to commence the prosecution of persons apprehended for violation of election laws during the recent General Election, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, the chairman of the commission declared on Tuesday.

Receiving a delegation of government officials from Bayelsa State in his office, Yakubu also revealed that 22 persons who won various offices in the recent elections have had victory overturned on account of infringements in the internal party primaries that produced them.

He thus appealed to parties to lift the standard of their internal primaries.

Receiving the Bayelsa delegation led by the deputy governor of the state, Rear Admiral Gborigbiogha Jonah, rtd. he said:

“Arising from the arrests made by the security agencies in the 2019 general elections, the Commission will soon commence the prosecution of offenders whose case files have been prepared by the Nigeria Police.

“May I also appeal to all political parties to ensure the conduct of transparent, credible and rancour-free primaries for the nomination of candidates. From the 2019 general elections, we have seen how acrimonious party primaries have been, resulting in numerous litigations and making our preparations for elections difficult. We are still grappling with issues arising from the conduct of party primaries. Pre-election litigations through the regular courts (the High Courts, Courts of Appeal and the Supreme Court) have resulted in a number of judgements in favour of petitioners. So far, primary elections conducted by political parties in 22 constituencies across the Federation have been upturned by the regular Courts of Law on account of improper party primaries. In all cases, we have obeyed the orders of court and issued Certificates of Return to candidates declared winners by the Courts. More of such judgments have been received and are currently under consideration by the Commission”, Yakubu explained.

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