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The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has urged the Nigerian media to support the formation of an Electoral Offences Tribunal.

The Commission emphasised the importance of establishing a specialised legal framework to ensure that electoral violators are prosecuted promptly.

Prof Mahmood Yakubu, Chairman of Nigeria’s Electoral Commission, emphasised this point during the commission’s first regular quarterly consultative meeting with media stakeholders in Abuja on Friday.

Yakunu stated that the Commission under his leadership is devoted to improve the country’s electoral process, but that punishing offenders has remained a significant difficulty for the Commission.

Yakubu emphasised that judicial processes are slow, and that offenders are currently prosecuted in Magistrate and State High Courts, where they fight for attention with a plethora of other cases.

“A major obstacle to the speedy dispensation of justice in this regard is that electoral offences are not time-bound as is the case with post-election offences through the tribunals,” the INEC boss said.

“Consequently, electoral offences are carried over from one general election to another, which may sometimes affect the diligent prosecution of the cases.

He stated that the Commission is now prosecuting 774 electoral offenders from the 2023 general elections in partnership with the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA).

According to Yakubu, some convictions have been obtained in states such as Kebbi and Kogi, but he noted that many cases remain outstanding.

Yakubu urged the media to boost support for the tribunal.

In its response, the Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, through its Secretary, Achike Chude, who represented the newly elected NUJ President, Hassan Yahaya, assured the Commission of the association’s continued collaboration, emphasising the importance of the electoral body to Nigeria’s democracy.

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