The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has urged the chairman-designate of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Joash Amupitan, to make the prosecution of electoral offenders a top priority as he prepares to assume office.
The rights organisation said the consistent failure to hold perpetrators of electoral crimes accountable has become one of the biggest threats to credible elections in Nigeria.
In a statement signed by its deputy director, Kolawole Oluwadare, SERAP stated that “Impunity for past electoral offences is a major barrier to free and fair elections in Nigeria. Mr Amupitan must demonstrate that INEC under his leadership would not tolerate electoral offences in the country’s elections.”
According to the group, electoral malpractices such as violence, vote-buying, bribery, conspiracy, and undue influence have marred national and off-cycle elections since 2015, making a mockery of Nigeria’s democratic process.
“Unless the legacy of impunity for these grave electoral offences is combated and perpetrators—especially high-ranking politicians and their sponsors—are effectively prosecuted, those contemplating electoral crimes will feel unconstrained in future elections,” SERAP warned.
The group also called for the inclusion of stronger enforcement mechanisms in the ongoing electoral reforms, stressing the need for timely prosecution of offenders and better access to justice for aggrieved voters.
“There cannot be a fair electoral process if the body managing the electoral process fails to ensure the effective investigation and prosecution of electoral offences,” the organisation said. “No right is more precious in a democratic society than that of having a voice in the election of those who govern. Other rights, even the most basic, are illusory if electoral offences are not thoroughly investigated and prosecuted.”
SERAP further appealed to Amupitan to push for amendments to the Electoral Act 2022 in line with the Nigerian Constitution and international democratic standards to guarantee credible elections in 2027.
“The new leadership of INEC must ensure that reforms include provisions for the timely prosecution of electoral offences and access to effective remedies for violations of citizens’ fundamental rights,” the statement added.
President Bola Tinubu recently nominated Professor Joash Amupitan as the new INEC chairman, pending Senate confirmation. He is expected to take over from Mahmood Yakubu, who left office last week before the official end of his second term.
