Date: 2018-08-04

Dearth of institutional mechanisms to prosecute election offences in Nigeria is responsible for some of the controversies that trail outcome of elections in the country, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and European Centre for Electoral Support (ECES) have said.

ECES therefore said that it is imperative to put in place more appropriate institutional mechanism for the prosecution of election offences in Nigeria. Projector Director, ECES Rudof Elbling said this yesterday in Ilorin, the Kwara state capital at the opening ceremony of two days training programme for INEC legal and police officers on prosecution of election offences.

The programme was jointly organized by INEC and ECES. Mrs. Elbling added that ECES plans to hold workshop with judges of the Court of Appeal and election petitions tribunals and capacity building for stakeholders at the local level.

She added that election offenders need to be punished according to the law to make the electoral processes ever more credible.

Said she: "Coming at a time when national debate is ongoing for the establishment of the election offences prosecution commission or the establishment of election offences prosecution unit, it is my hope that deliberations at the training will deepen understanding and forge mutual consensus on the imperative and modalities of putting in place always more appropriate mechanism for the prosecution of election offences in Nigeria.

"Therefore, clear and properly understood and followed mechanism for prosecution of election offences committed by voters, candidates and election officials are necessary to render electoral process the less controversial and contentious possible."

Earlier, the Kwara state Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) of INEC, Mallam Garba Madami said that the training is to intimate and re-orientate the legal officers on the methodology and mechanism to overcome the hurdles against prosecution of electoral offences; to sensitise legal officers on the inefficiency of the criminal investigation machinery in Nigeria; lack of statutory powers of the commission to make arrests; lack statutory power to investigate violations that seriously impede the successful prosecution of electoral offences. Mallam Madami added that "this training workshop therefore is expected to produce recommendations on how the participants will overcome the hurdles of delayed outcome of investigations conducted by relevant security agencies during elections."