Bayelsa, Imo, Kogi Guber Polls: List of Electoral Offences That May Land You in Prison
- The Electoral Act of 2022 will come into play in the upcoming off-cycle gubernatorial polls in Bayelsa, Imo, and Kogi states
- These statutes carry stipulations that prohibit infringement of electoral rules and guidelines
- These infringements range from impersonation, double voting, voter inducement, violence and other offences that attract fines and jail terms
Legit.ng journalist Segun Adeyemi has over 9 years of experience covering political events, civil society, courts, and metro
FCT, Abuja - Like many other countries, Nigeria has laws to regulate electoral processes and prevent electoral offences.
Engaging in electoral offences can lead to severe consequences, including imprisonment.
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Here are some critical electoral offences in Nigeria:
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1. Registration offence
Section 114 (a to f) of the Electoral Act spelt out a list of electoral offences related to voter registration.
They include double registration, forgery of registration card, impersonation of the registration officer, and so on, which might lead to "a maximum fine of N1,000,000 or to imprisonment for a term of 12 months or both."
2. Nomination offences
Section 115 borders on electoral offences that might be perpetrated by any candidate concerning their nomination.
These offences spelt out stipulations that condemn the forgery of nomination papers or results, forgery of ballot papers, destruction of ballot papers, possession of ballot papers without authority and others.
As contained in the statutory provision of the Electoral Act, such offences will attract a fine of "N50,000,000 or imprisonment for a term not less than ten years or both."
3. Violence at political meetings
Section 116 of the Nigerian Electoral Act stipulates that:
"Any person who, at a political meeting who acts or incites another to act in a disorderly manner for the purpose of preventing the transaction of the business for which the meeting was convened, or has in his possession an offensive weapon or missiles ,commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a maximum fine of N500,000 or imprisonment for a term of 12 months or both."
4. Improper use of voter card
Section 117 of the Electoral Act condemns the improper use of voter cards.
The stipulation reads:
"Any person who(a) being entitled to a voters card, gives it to some other person for use at an election other than an officer appointed and acting in the course of his or her duty under this Act
"(b) not being an officer acting in the course of his or her duty under this Act, receives any voters card in the name of some other person or persons for use at an election uses it fraudulently,
"(c) without lawful excuse has in his possession more than one voters card, or
"(d) buys, sells, procures or deals, with a voters card otherwise than as provided in this Act, commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a maximum fine of N1,000,000 or imprisonment for a term of 12 months or both."
5. Impersonation and voting when not qualified
Section 119 condemns any attempt by an individual not qualified to vote to impersonate the identity of another voter.
The statute also frowns at a qualified voter who had voted during an election and decided to impersonate another person to vote again in the same election.
Such offences attract a "fine of N500,000 or imprisonment for a term of 12 months or both."
Other notable electoral offences include dereliction of duty (Section 120), bribery and conspiracy (Section 121), and requirement of secrecy in voting (Section 122).
Others include wrongful voting and false statement (Section 123), voting by unregistered person (Section 124), disorderly conduct at elections, (Section 125), offences on election day (Section 126), undue influence (Section 127), threatening (Section 128) and so on.
Off-cycle polls: Ex-President Jonathan sends crucial message to candidates, INEC, others
Meanwhile, ex-President Goodluck Jonathan has revealed his message to politicians and supporters in Bayelsa, Imo and Kogi states.
In a statement issued on Friday, November 10, Jonathan urged all the electoral stakeholders to sue for peace rather than violence.
Jonathan said the life of every citizen is worth more than any man's ambition seeking political power.
Source: Legit.ng
