Election Bribe: EFCC Begins Prosecution of Indicted INEC Staff

• Staff got N3.4bn bribe, says Yakubu

Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja

The acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Ibrahim Magu has said all the staff of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) indicted for taking bribe during elections have been charged to courts in Lagos, Port Harcourt, Kano and Gombe.

A total of 295 INEC staff were indicted for their involvement in bribery, corruption and money laundering during the 2015 general election as well as the last re-run legislative elections  in Rivers State.

Magu, who spoke during a meeting with the Chairman of INEC, Prof. Mahmoud Yakubu, at the headquarters of the electoral commission in Abuja on Thursday, said the EFCC would welcome INEC’s Legal Department to join its prosecution team in handling the cases in court.

He said: “We are already prosecuting some INEC staff in Lagos, Port Harcourt, Kano and Gombe. In the future, before we take any such case to court, we will inform INEC and share details of the charge sheet with you. And if you have anybody in your legal department that wants to join our prosecution team, such persons are welcome. This will add value to work.”

Magu, who said the EFCC regards corruption as “a crime against humanity,” commended the INEC Chairman for cooperating with the anti-corruption agency in the cases involving some INEC staff.

In a statement issued after the meeting, the spokesman to the INEC chairman, Rotimi Oyekanmi, said Magu also commended the INEC management for its decisive action on the issue.

“When you take actions like these, you are reducing our work. And as far as the fight against corruption is concerned, we (EFCC and INEC) are on the same page,” it said.

According to Oyekanmi, the EFCC noted that sensitisation of the populace on the consequences of corruption was part of the EFCC Act, adding that it would be pursued vigorously.

On his part, the Chairman of INEC, Yakubu, urged the EFCC to henceforth prosecute any INEC staff found to have committed any offence related to its mandate, without waiting for the conclusion of INEC’s internal investigation.

Yakubu said it took INEC about four months to thoroughly investigate all the allegations against the 202 members of staff contained in the Interim Report the agency forwarded to the commission, before a final decision could be reached.

According to the INEC boss, in order to avoid delays in the future, the anti-corruption agency should commence the prosecution of any staff if it possesses sufficient evidence to do so.

On the decision taken so far, Yakubu explained that a committee was set up to conduct a thorough investigation of all the allegations contained in both the report and other findings, with all the affected staff members given the opportunity to defend themselves in the spirit of fair hearing.

He confirmed that the committee set by INEC had established that over N3.4 billion was received by some INEC staff in 16 states, apparently to influence the results of the 2015 general election.

As a result, he said about 205 staff had now been placed on interdiction, which entails suspension from duty and being placed on half salary, pending the final determination of their respective cases.

He further explained that the implicated former National Commissioner and five former Resident Electoral Commissioners (one of whom is now deceased) had been referred to the Presidency through the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF).

According to the INEC boss, the reason is that they were appointed by the federal government and as such, “the commission cannot take further action against them”.

He also  said the commission was referring 70 other members of staff back to the EFCC for further investigation and possible prosecution, because of insufficient evidence.

While reiterating the commission’s zero tolerance for corruption, Yakubu told Magu: “If we get our elections right, we will get our democracy right. And if we get our democracy right, we will attain real development as a nation.”