2019: EU moves to curb electoral offences, organises training for police, INEC officials

macfranc007 September 20, 2018 Nigeria News today & Breaking news ▷ Read Naija news 24/7 Buchi Obichie

- The EU has organised a two-day training for INEC officials and police officers, on prosecuting election offenders

- According to a senior EU official, offenders need to be punished according to the law to make the electoral process more credible

- Topics to be covered during the training include investigation, framing of charges and arraignment of electoral offenders

The European Union Centre for Electoral Support has organised a two-day capacity building training to improve the capacity of the legal officers of the Independent National Electoral Commission and the police to prosecute election offenders.

The training, taking place in Sokoto, is the first time the police and INEC officials will be coming together to brainstorm on the conduct of a peaceful and credible election, Punch reports,

NAIJ.com gathers that the senior electoral expert – legal at the European body, Maria Mauro, while delivering her goodwill message, pointed out that election offences constituted a violation of the laws and regulations guiding the conduct of elections.

She said: “This training represents another step towards improving the competence and skills of INEC legal and police officers to improve synergies among the two components to deliver fair and credible elections in 2019 and beyond.

“Election offences can degenerate to the point of constituting a threat to the security of voters and election personnel. The perpetration of election offences contributes to voter insecurity and the distortion of election outcomes.

“Offenders need to be punished according to the law to make the electoral process more credible.”

Topics to be covered during the training include challenges of prosecution of election offences in Nigeria, investigation, the framing of charges and arraignment of electoral offenders.

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Meanwhile, NAIJ.com previously reported that a delegation of the 2015 European Union Election Observation Mission (EUEOM) to Nigeria, led by chief observer, Santiago Fisas Ayxela, visited the chairmen of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at their national secretariats in Abuja.

At the APC secretariat, the EU EOM delegation was received by the then-national chairman of the party, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, and some members of the party’s National Working Committee (NWC).

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