The Chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, said on Monday that more than 100 members of staff of the commission had been quizzed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission over bribery allegations during the last general elections.
Yakubu stated this in the commission’s bulletin released in Abuja on Monday.
At the end of the investigations, he said those found guilty would be sacked by the commission.
Some Resident Electoral Officers of the commission were alleged to have been bribed by the officials of the Peoples Democratic Party during the 2015 elections.
Also, many electoral officers and others, were said to have been involved in the bribery scandal.
The INEC boss said that all the indicted officers would be shown the way out to serve as a deterrent to others.
He said, “So far, over a 100 staff of INEC had been invited. At a point, we toyed with the idea of speaking to the EFCC to see the weight of evidence they have so that we can take administrative action against our staff, but they are innocent until they are proven guilty.
“They have to be charged to court, but we have taken notice and we have a complete list.”
Though the list of invited staff kept increasing, the INEC boss said the commission was cooperating with the EFCC and that ultimately members of staff who were culpable would “be shown the way out.”
Yakubu, who called for the establishment of the electoral offences commission and tribunal as prescribed by the Justice Mohammed Uwais and Ahmed Lemu Commissions, noted that inconclusive elections were brought about largely by violence.
He added that the only way to stop electoral violence was to put in place a mechanism that would punish offenders, arguing that “there are people who believe that they can do anything and get away with it.”
He said that though inconclusive elections were caused by violence and over-voting, Yakubu observed that they were also compounded by the recent evolution of two strong parties as opposed to the past where he said there was only one mega party and smaller ones.
The INEC boss expressed optimism that following representations made by the commission to the Presidency, the outstanding six National Commissioners and 21 Resident Electoral Commissioners would soon be appointed to replace those whose tenure had lapsed.
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