The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has urged Professor Joash Amupitan, the newly nominated chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), to prioritize the effective prosecution of politicians and their sponsors suspected of electoral offenses, including violence, bribery, and vote-buying.
In a letter to Amupitan, SERAP’s Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, emphasized that impunity for past electoral offenses is a major barrier to free and fair elections in Nigeria, and that INEC under Amupitan’s watch should not tolerate electoral crimes.
The group lamented that violence and other infractions have marred the nation’s elections since 2015, and that high-ranking politicians and their sponsors are rarely brought to justice for electoral offenses, reinforcing a culture of impunity.
