Electoral offences Bill: Snatch, destroy ballot boxes, papers, get 20 years jail term — Senate

•15 years for opening a ballot box without authorization 

•10 years for selling, holding voter’s card not bearing your name

•10 years or N20 million fine or both for using hate speech 

By Our Reporters, with Vanguard Report

A STIFF punishment awaits election riggers and their collaborators including security agents, if President Muhammadu Buhari signs into law the National Electoral Offences Commission Bill, which the Senate passed, yesterday. Also, if the punishment is fully implemented, it will serve as a deterrent to all election riggers and checkmate excess of election malpractices in the country.

The Bill for the establishment of the National Electoral Offences Commission empowers the commission to sentence or convict a candidate, any person or agent who destroys or snatches a ballot box or papers during election to 20 years imprisonment.

According to the bill, which was read the third time and passed, the Commission will ensure that no candidate, his agent or any other person shall grab, loot, damage or destroy in any manner ballot boxes or ballot papers or any other electoral document or material, before, during and after an election, or take or attempt to take or cause to be taken ballot boxes or ballot papers or any other electoral document or material before, during and after an election without the permission of election official in charge of the election at a polling station.

15 years for opening a ballot box without authorisation 

The bill also gave the Commission the power to sentence someone for a term of 15 years when found guilty of destroying, snatching or opening a ballot box when he is not authorised and any person who votes when he is not entitled to vote is also liable to an imprisonment of 15 years. This also applies to any one who puts into any ballot box approved by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, or a State Electoral Commission anything other than the ballot paper which he is authorised by law to put in.

10 years for selling, holding voter’s card not bearing your name

The Senate also approved 10 years imprisonment for any person who sells voter’s card, or in possession of any voter’s card bearing the name of another person, or prepares and prints a document or paper purporting to be a register of voters or a voter’s card.

Resolutions of the Senate, yesterday, were sequel to the consideration of the Senator Kabiru Gaya, All Progressives Congress, APC, Kano South-led Senate Committee’s report on the Electoral Offences Commission (Establishment) Bill, 2021( SB220) which established the Electoral Offences Commission.

It gave at least 15 years jail term or N30 million naira fine for any security personnel or election official engaged by the Independent National Electoral Commission or State Electoral Commission who attempts to influence the outcome of an election.

In addition, any person found to disturb the public peace on Election Day by playing musical instruments, singing or holding an assembly where a polling station is located shall be guilty of breaching electoral peace and liable to six months imprisonment or a fine of at least N100,000 or both.

Also, any person acting for himself or on behalf of any organization or political party or candidate or his agent with the intention of prejudicing the result of an election, damage or defame, in any manner, the character of any candidate in an election or his family member by making, saying, printing, airing or publishing in the print or electronic media false accusation on any matter shall be guilty of serious corrupt practice and liable on conviction to a term of at least 10 years or a fine of N10 million or both.

Gaya who noted that the bill became imperative in view of INEC’s inability to prosecute electoral offenders in accordance with the provisions of sections 149 and 150(2) of the Electoral Act (as Amended), said: “By the foregoing statistics, it is unrealistic to expect INEC to conduct free, fair and credible election and simultaneously prosecute offences arising from the same elections. “Indeed, INEC has at several occasions admitted that it lacks the wherewithal to cleanse the system.

  “Its failure to prosecute even one percent 870,000 and over 900,000 alleged electoral offences in 2011 and 2015 general elections respectively is an affirmation of the necessity for a paradigm shift on how we deal with electoral offences.”

According to him, as a result of electoral flaws in the system, the Justice Uwais Electoral Committee; Sheik Nurudeen Lemu Committee; and Constitution and Electoral Reform Committee were constituted, just as he recalled that the committees in their final reports recommended that for INEC to function efficiently, some of the functions currently performed by it should be assigned to other agencies.

Accordingly, the Senate during consideration of the INEC Committee report, approved the establishment of the National Electoral Offences Commission. The Commission’s membership consists of the Chairman, Secretary and representatives from the Justice, Interior, Defence, and Information Ministries.

Functions of Commission 

The function of the Commission include: investigating electoral Offences created in any laws relating to elections in Nigeria; prosecution of electoral offenders; and maintaining records of all persons investigated and prosecuted.

Others are to liaise with the Attorney-General of the Federation and government security and law enforcement bodies and agencies in the discharge of its duties; liaise with other bodies within and outside Nigeria involved in the investigation or prosecution of electoral Offences; and adopting measures to prevent, minimize and eradicate electoral Offences throughout the federation.

The Senate in Clause 12 of the bill approved at least five years imprisonment or a fine of at least N10 million or both, for any officer or executives of any association or political party that engages in electoral fraud that contravenes the provisions of clauses 221, 225(1)(2)(3) and (4) and 227 of the 1999 Constitution as amended.

The Senate also gave its nod to a term of at least ten years upon conviction for any election official who willfully prevents any person from voting at the polling station, willfully rejects or refuses to count any ballot paper validly cast, willfully counts any ballot paper not validly cast, gives false evidence or withholds evidence, and announces or declares a false result at an election.

The upper chamber in Clause 20(2) approved at least 15 years imprisonment for any judicial officer or officer of a court or tribunal who corruptly perverts electoral justice, during or after an election.  

Any person soliciting or giving votes for or against any political party or candidate at an election, or found to affix campaign materials on any private house, public buildings or structures, or prints posters and banners without the name and address of the political party to which the candidate or person belongs contravenes sub-clause (1) to (5) and guilty of an offence and liable to at least five years or a fine of at least N10 million or both. The National Electoral Offences Commission Bill, 2021, prohibits any campaign against national interest.

It provides a twenty years jail term without option of fine for any person who propagates information that undermines the independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity, or unity of the federation.

Also, any candidate or agent who damages or snatches ballot boxes, ballot papers or election materials before, during and after an election without the permission of election official in charge of the polling station attracts at least 20 years imprisonment or a fine of at least N40 million naira.

The Senate approved at least fifteen years imprisonment for any person who conveys voters to and from the poll; and three years imprisonment for any employee who directly or indirectly exerts undue influence on a voter in his employ. The upper chamber approved three years and not more than five years imprisonment for any person who provide false information in any material particular to a public officer.

10 years or N20m fine or both for using hate speech 

It also gave the nod for at least 10 years imprisonment or at least N20 million naira fine or both for any person who uses hate speech to stir up ethnic, religious or racial hatred, social or political insecurity or violence against anyone or group of persons. The Bill pegged 15 years imprisonment for any person, “acting for himself or on behalf of any organisation or political party or candidate or his agent or other person, shall, with an intention of prejudicing the result of any election, damage or defame, in any manner,.