RETHINKING THE PENAL MEASURES FOR ELECTORAL VIOLENCE IN NIGERIA
Author: Ebele Gloria Ogwuda* & Lilian Onyinyechi Uche**
ABSTRACT
All over the world, elections play an intricate part in democratic governance as it provides a platform for people to elect their leaders. The conduct of such elections should consequently be competitive, free and fair both substantively and procedurally and devoid of any form of violence. The prevalence of electoral violence in Africa has become very worrisome as the love for power has whittled down the possibility of eliminating same in modern day Africa. It has sadly also become part of Nigeria’s electoral system; an occurrence that cannot be isolated from incidents of socio-economic inequalities, ethno-religious divisions, corruption, etc. The aftermath of such violent acts leaves in its wake injury (sometimes grievous) and loss of lives before, during and after elections. This undoubtedly brings to question the ‘adequacy’ of the extant law for the prosecution of electoral offenders as envisaged under the Electoral Act, 2022 (as amended). It is in view of this that the paper through a doctrinal research approach examines the existing legal framework for electoral violence in Nigeria. The paper finds that the penal measures put in place are not adequate to successfully deter future acts of violence. It therefore makes a case for expansion of the scope of punishment for electoral offences to include stiffer penalties.
CONCLUSION/RECOMMENDATIONS
Nigeria and in fact Africa has witnessed significant democratic progress over the past two decades, although there is still great variation between various sub-regions and countries. Due to the increasing reliance on elections as a means to distribute and regulate political power in society, the stakes of such elections are often high. The socio-economic realities of losing power in societies where almost all political power and economic resources of the state are placed in the hands of the incumbent, coupled with exclusive electoral systems and weak or biased electoral institutions, risk turning elections into a do-or-die affair. This is intensified in societies divided along ethnic and other socio-economic cleavages like Nigeria and many African countries. Reforms to regulate and punish electoral violence perpetrators are trite as it will deter people from engaging in it.
Many literatures have identified actions such as election technical assistance, social peace building and political party engagement and types of electoral violence prevention but not much have been said about strengthening the legal framework for identifying and punishing electoral offenders. Also, it’s been found that local law enforcement often is not equipped to prosecute election offences making federal law enforcement seem the only enforcement option available. Accordingly, prosecution of electoral offenders by federal criminal justice system or federal high court seems to be the best option because the federal high court judges who are drawn from a broader geographic area than most state judges discharge their duties efficiently, and thus lessen the possibility of local bias. Also, the provision of a federal law criminalising electoral violence will sufficiently reduce its occurrence, make politician accountable and bring perpetrators to book.