Some dignitaries at the just concluded 6th annual conference of the Guild of Corporate Online Publishers GOCOP, held October 5th-6th, 2022 in Lagos.

Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC, Prof Mahmoud Yakubu has said that the commission lacks the capacity to arrest and prosecute electoral offenders, contrary to the provisions of Electoral Act 2022, which saddles it with the responsibility.

Speaking at the 6th annual conference of the Guild of Corporate Online Publishers GOCOP with the theme: 2023 Elections: Managing the process for credible elections, which held in Lagos, Thursday, the Chairman of the Nigeria’s electoral umpire, noted that the commission by its structure only has the capacity to conduct election and monitor all electoral processes.

He was reacting to a submission by a former Inspector General of the Nigeria Police, Dr Solomon Arase, one of the panellists at the conference, who said that punishing electoral offenders was a hallmark of a good democratic process, regretting that many such offenders have been made to go unpunished, thus serving as an incentive to those who might commit such offences in the future.

According to him, by its nature and structure, the commission is made up of permanent and ad-hoc members of staff, who for instance cannot leave their primary duty of organising elections at a voting centre for instance to be to run after alleged offenders, which apart from being a distraction, they also grossly lack the capacity to do that.

He blamed the National Assembly for such a misplacement, insisting that the legislators cleverly inserted that clause wondering what a commission that lacks both skills and manpower would do with the task of arresting, investigating and prosecuting electoral offenders when it does not have the power to arrest and investigate before prosecution.

Prof Yakubu also wondered that why the Federal Government has over the years shied away from implementing the recommendations by the several panels and committees it set up by itself to look at the issue of electoral offences, which have in the recent years assume a worrisome dimension.

He said: “There have been several recommendations for setting up of Electoral Offences Commission and Tribunals to prosecute electoral offenders but these recommendations by panels and committees set up by the government itself have not been implemented.

“Recall that the Justice Mohammed Uwais Panel, the Elemu Commission and most recently, the Ken Nnamani Political Reform Committee, all recommended the setting up of Electoral Offences Commission and Tribunal but these recommendations have not been implemented and so you the media practitioners should also begin to ask questions.

“But there seems to be light at the end of the tunnel as some National Assembly members have sponsored a private member bill on electoral tribunals and INEC has gone to lend support. So we believe that this issue would be finally put to rest when this bill is passed into law to create a properly constituted commission and tribunal to investigate and prosecute alleged electoral offenders.”

The former IGP, who admitted that most political parties in the country try to manipulate the electoral processes, especially where they have seeming political advantage, however listed some threats and challenges that might inhibit the smooth conduct of the 2023 elections.

He cited the issue of conflicting laws on rallies, saying whereas the Public Order Act bars the Police from stopping public protests and processions, section 91 (1-4) of the new Electoral Act mandates the same Police to monitor and control political rallies, a development, he said puts state Commissioners of Police in dilemma.

 Another challenge, according to him is the worsening insecurity in the country and the seeming manpower crisis whereby many Policemen have been drafted to protect very important personalities VIPs. He wondered where the Police would get enough manpower to man the elections across the land.

Another panellist, Dr Chichi Aniagolu-Okoye of the Ford Foundation, during her intervention, charged the media, especially members of GOCOP to shun fake news and irresponsible reporting, which often mislead the public and cause public disorder if not properly managed.

Meanwhile, President of GOCOP, Maureen Chigbo, in her welcome address, noted that publisher of RealNews said the 2023 elections would be very important to Nigeria as a nation, adding that INEC has a crucial role to play in making it peaceful, credible, free and fair.

Chigbo, who doubles as publisher of the RealNews Online, noted that the online publishers play crucial roles in the electoral processes, especially in terms of public sensitisation and therefore urged corporate bodies to support GOCOP in this task by doing business with GOCOP members instead of blackmailers.

A highpoint of the event was the induction of 13 new publishers, including Business and Transport, which brings the membership strength to 94 corporate members.