{"id":127601,"date":"2024-08-11T23:01:35","date_gmt":"2024-08-11T22:01:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/uncategorized\/electoral-offences-major-threat-to-free-fair-elections-in-nigeria-inec"},"modified":"2024-08-12T00:05:46","modified_gmt":"2024-08-11T23:05:46","slug":"electoral-offences-major-threat-to-free-fair-elections-in-nigeria-inec","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/electoral-offences-major-threat-to-free-fair-elections-in-nigeria-inec","title":{"rendered":"Electoral offences, major threat to free, fair elections in Nigeria \u2013 INEC"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Nigeria. <\/strong><\/span>As off-cycle Edo State Governorship Election approaches, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has identified electoral offences as one of the major threats to free, fair and credible elections in Nigeria.<\/p>\n

The Commission noted that electoral offences also increase political tension and trigger violence.<\/p>\n

Mrs Rita Amadi, Head, Legal Department, Legal Services, INEC office, Edo State, made the assertion in a paper presented at a one-day engagement with youth groups in Edo State on the role of youths ahead of the September 21, 2024 governorship election.<\/p>\n

Amadi, represented by Mrs Oba Agbonifo, a legal officer in the Benin office, in her paper titled, \u2018Electoral Offences and Penalties\u2019, said the essence of the presentation was to intimate the electorate especially the youths of the existence and applicability of the electoral laws as well as punishment and penalties when breached.<\/p>\n

She noted that the prosecution of electoral offences in Nigeria which has become a herculean task.<\/p>\n

According to her, one of the major hurdles against the effective prosecution of electoral offences is the abject inefficiency of criminal investigation in Nigeria.<\/p>\n

Amadi posited that efforts at mitigating electoral offences could only become effective with the arrest, prosecution and sanctioning of the offenders, to end the reign of impunity.<\/p>\n

\u201cElectoral offences may be committed by an individual or group of persons and such individuals shall be held liable and punished in accordance with the extant laws.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur laws are replete with a reasonable amount of these offences and penalties. Generally speaking, the youths make up a greater percentage of our population, as well as the age bracket that participate in our electoral process at different levels.<\/p>\n

\u201cAgainst this backdrop it\u2019s critical that the youths get to intimately understand the electoral offences,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The INEC legal officer said the commission\u2019s chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, had at a press briefing, noted that \u201calthough the commission is empowered by the Electoral Act to prosecute electoral offences, it lacks the power and resources to make arrests and thoroughly investigate the offences\u201d.<\/p>\n

She, however, advised all political stakeholders to assist the Commission to fulfil its mandate as an election management body by enlightening its agents, supporters or partners to do away with the \u201cdo or die\u201d mentality in the electioneering process.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Nigeria Follow Africa-Press<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Nigeria. As off-cycle Edo State Governorship Election approaches, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has identified electoral offences as one of the major threats to free, fair and credible elections in Nigeria. The Commission noted that electoral offences also increase political tension and trigger violence. Mrs Rita Amadi, Head, Legal Department, Legal Services, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":127600,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,14],"tags":[251,254],"class_list":["post-127601","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-inec","tag-nigeria"],"yoast_head":"\nElectoral offences, major threat to free, fair elections in Nigeria \u2013 INEC - Nigeria<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"As off-cycle Edo State Governorship Election approaches, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has identi ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/electoral-offences-major-threat-to-free-fair-elections-in-nigeria-inec\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Electoral offences, major threat to free, fair elections in Nigeria \u2013 INEC\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As off-cycle Edo State Governorship Election approaches, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has identi ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/electoral-offences-major-threat-to-free-fair-elections-in-nigeria-inec\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Nigeria\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-08-11T22:01:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-08-11T23:05:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2024\/08\/sm_1723401325.279978.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/electoral-offences-major-threat-to-free-fair-elections-in-nigeria-inec#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/electoral-offences-major-threat-to-free-fair-elections-in-nigeria-inec\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Electoral offences, major threat to free, fair elections in Nigeria \u2013 INEC\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-08-11T22:01:35+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-08-11T23:05:46+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/electoral-offences-major-threat-to-free-fair-elections-in-nigeria-inec\"},\"wordCount\":396,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/electoral-offences-major-threat-to-free-fair-elections-in-nigeria-inec#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2024\/08\/sm_1723401325.279978.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"INEC\",\"Nigeria\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"Policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/electoral-offences-major-threat-to-free-fair-elections-in-nigeria-inec#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/electoral-offences-major-threat-to-free-fair-elections-in-nigeria-inec\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/electoral-offences-major-threat-to-free-fair-elections-in-nigeria-inec\",\"name\":\"Electoral offences, major threat to free, fair elections in Nigeria \u2013 INEC - 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