INEC Boss Advocates Electoral Offenders Commission

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has advocated the need for the establishment of an Electoral Offence Commission (EOC) to deal with electoral offences in the country.

The INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner, (REC) in Rivers State, Mr Aniedi Ikoiwak made the call at the weekend during an investiture award ceremony in his honour in Port Harcourt. He said the Electoral offence commission if put in place would provide a better platform to adjudicate and bring to book Electoral offenders in the country.

Ikoiwak, also a recipient of the Award of Excellence for outstanding performance during the conduct of the April 2011 General Elections in the state, observed that a number of electoral offenders were arrested within the election period under review.

According to him, if the commission is in place, it would help fast-track the trial of electoral offenders, adding that, if people are not punished for their offences, the electoral process would be circumvented.

Ikoiwak also proposed stiffer punishment for electoral offenders caught during the April 2011 general elections, explaining that if the culprits were adequately punished, it would deter others from engaging in any form of violence or electoral fraud in future elections.

He commended the Joint Assembly of Rivers State Youths for the award and said that the gesture would spur him for better service to the country in future.

Earlier, Mr Gashon Bob-Manuel Acho, president of Joint Assembly of Rivers State Youths, said the group decided to honour Ikoiwak for his outstanding performance in the last election.

Acho said, “In the past, elections in the state had witnessed much violence and bickering among political parties.

But the election conducted in April 2011 was free and fair and conducted peacefully.

He said that the Joint Assembly of Rivers State Youths is an umbrella group of youths from tertiary institutions across the country and they were among local observers that monitored the 2011 elections of the state.