The National Human Rights Commission said on Wednesday that it would
soon release the list of persons it had indicted for committing
various electoral offences in the 2011 general elections.
Executive Secretary of the NHRC, Prof. Bem Angwe, said this at the
commission's headquarters in Abuja, while receiving a delegation of
the Economic Community of West African States, led by former Ghanaian
President, Mr. John Kuffour.
Kuffour said his delegation was in Nigeria for a pre-election
assessment of the nation's preparedness for the 2015 polls.
The former Ghanaian President added that the delegation had visited
the ECOWAS secretariat in Nigeria, the Peoples Democratic Party, the
United Nation Development Programme and the Independent National
Electoral Commission as part of its assessment tour.
Angwe, who painted a picture of general panic by Nigerians ahead of
the 2015 elections, said the NHRC had been making efforts toward
ending electoral impunity in the country by ensuring that those
indicted for various electoral offences were punished.
The commission had earlier in the year released a list of persons it
indicted after reviewing various judgments of the election tribunals
and appellate courts on previous elections and recommended them for
prosecution.
No action had been taken on the NHRC recommendation, though some of
the individuals had gone to court to challenge the legality of the
commission's report.
The NHRC boss said the step taken by the commission to indict and
recommend the alleged offenders for prosecution was part of the
efforts targeted at ending electoral impunity in the country.
He said, "On the eve of the 2015 general elections, the National Human
Rights Commission has commenced implementation of practical steps that
will bring to an end the electoral impunity in this country.
"Consequently, the past few months, the commission reviewed decisions
of election tribunals and identified persons who are indicted in the
various electoral tribunals to have committed some electoral offences
and accordingly recommended to the Attorney General of the Federation
and the relevant state Commissioners of Justice for prosecution of
those indicted persons.
"In some few weeks to come, the commission is still going to release
another set of persons, who were specifically indicted in the 2011
general elections to have committed various election offences for
prosecution."
He said the law could only be effective when the sanction attached to
it was being enforced.
"It is our belief that when those indicted for election offences are
punished this will indeed serve as a deterrent and it will assist in
putting an end to the culture of impunity, which the commission
considers a major violation of the rights of the people of Nigeria,"
he added.
Kuffour, who described the respect for human rights as the pillar of
democratic governance, said his delegation was in Nigeria to learn
from the activities of the commission in the areas of human rights in
order to "to compose a report on the situation on the ground in
Nigeria and the preparedness of the nation for the election of the
presidency and the legislature."
--PUNCH
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