Falana Seeks Prosecution of Paid Clerics For Election Malpractices

Speaking at the public presentation of a partnership between some stakeholders in the elections, Mr Femi Falana, a human right activist, called for the prosecution of clerics who are paid to pray for candidates running for elective offices.

Femi Falana (SAN), concerned about electoral misconducts that characterize Nigeria’s electoral process, noted that since 1999, nobody had been prosecuted for inducing voters; “yet we witness inducements during our elections”.

By virtue of Section 124 of the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended), according to Falana, any form of inducement is a serious criminal offence.

Falana further said, the focus of electoral misconduct should not be placed solely on those arrested in election day.

“In the case of Falae and Obasanjo, which was decided in 1999, the Court of Appeal held that even though there was evidence that money, bags of rice and salt were distributed by the PDP — that was the allegation — the court said, ‘yes, but there is no evidence or proof that the beneficiary of the inducements, Gen Olusegun Obasanjo, directed the party to distribute or give out any form of gifts for the election.

“Since then, it has always been difficult to prove that the beneficiaries of inducements directly gave instructions to their parties or their agents to distribute money, rice, salt or whatever.

“We have left out those who are spending money on campaigns beyond the stipulation of the Electoral Act; people or parties offering money to defect; money spent on the media to manipulate stories and make phony projections; pastors and mallams to pray for candidates to win elections; unemployed people attending rallies; thugs to attack political opponents and disrupt rallies; and election officers.

“If we really want to challenge the violation of the Electoral Act via the monetisation of elections, we have to go beyond those who are likely to be arrested on election day.

“With the cooperation of the police and other security agencies, it is easy to arrest those who distribute money during election.”

The stakeholders partnership, headed by the Transition Monitoring Group and Human and Development Agenda, includes the Police Service Commission, Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission.