Section 144
Prosecution of offence disclosed in election petitionThe Commission shall consider any recommendation made to it by a tribunal with respect to the prosecution by it of any person for an offence disclosed in any election petition.
This section empowers the commission to prosecute electoral offenders recommended by the election tribunal where it is disclosed in the course of an election petition. It is meant to support the commission’s duty to prosecute electoral offenders
NB: The commission has however mentioned severally that it lacks the required capacity to prosecute electoral offences. It was reported in 2016 that the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) documented a list of (66) individuals indicted for various electoral malpractices in the 2007 and 2011 elections which was disclosed in the course of election tribunal proceedings. The list was said to have been submitted to the Attorney-General of the Federation, but no further action was taken.
