2015 general elections.

OFFENCES ON ELECTION DAY

by Legalnaija | Mar 26, 2015 | Uncategorized

Credits – thisisafrica.me

Yippee, elections are
finally here after the 6 week postponement and all the campaign ~~wahala~~ debates,
rallies and ~~mud-slinging~~ electioneering.
Obviously, the Presidential elections will
be a battle majorly between Goodluck Jonathan and Buhari while other state
governorship and national assembly elections will have various contestants from
other political parties who are not with the PDP or the APC have some political
ground.

As we all go out to cast
our votes, it is very important that we embrace peace and a free and fair election
procedure, please do not cause or promote any ~~katakata~~ disorderly acts and
if you insist on doing so, kindly remember that “any person who at an election
acts or incites others to act in a disorderly manner commits an offence and is
liable on conviction to a maximum fine of N500,000.00 or imprisonment for a
term of 12 months or both” – Section 128 of the Electoral Act. So the
ball is in court, peaceful election on one hand and one year in prison with a
fine on the other, please choose wisely.

There are many other
things you shouldn’t be caught doing on Election Day, these are stated in Section 129 of the 2010 Electoral Act, and
the law provides that:

Credits- dailypost.ng

– No person shall on the date on which an
election is held do any of the following acts or things in a polling unit or
within a distance of 300 meters of a polling unit –

a.
Canvass for votes;

b.
Solicit for the vote of any voter;

c.
Persuade any voter not to vote for any
particular candidate;

d.
Persuade any voter not to vote at the
election;

e.
Shout slogans concerning the election;

f.
Be in possessionof any offensive weapon or
wear any dress or have any facial or other decoration which in any event is
calculated to intimidate voters;

g.
Exhibit, wear or tender any notice, symbol,
photograph or prty card referring to the election;

h.
Use any vehicle bearing the colour or
symbol of a political party by any means whatsoever;

i.
Loiter without lawful excuse after voting
or after being refused to vote;

j.
Snatch or destroy any election materials,
and

k.
Blare siren.

But that’s actually not
all, as the law further states that no one within the vicinity of a polling
unit or collation centre on the day of election should convene, hold or attend any public meetings
during the hours of polling, unless appointed to make official statement,
neither shall anyone carry any badge, poster, banner, flag or symbol of any
political party. Any person who
contravenes any of the provision of this section commits an offence and is
liable on conviction to N100,000.00 or imprisonment for 6 months. Moreover, anyone who destroys or snatches
election material is liable to imprisonment for 24 months. I look forward to the
results of the elections and I am sure you do as well. While we wait, do share
this blog with everyone you know who will be voting on Election Day or will be
coming out to watch the polling.

Adedunmade Onibokun

@adedunmade/twitter

dunmadeo@yahoo.com

Adedunmade Onibokun is a legal
practitioner, publisher and blogger based in Lagos, Nigeria. He holds an LLM in
International Business Law from the University of Bradford and publishes the
Nigerian law blog Legalnaija.

PENALTY FOR IMPROPER USE OF VOTER’S CARDS

by Legalnaija | Dec 12, 2014 | Uncategorized

Editor’s note: This is the second post in a series informing
the public on Electoral offences, you can find the first post here – Punishment
for buying and selling voter’s cards.

The recent Presidential primaries of the APC and PDP caused
some excitement over the last couple of days. Elections are coming closer by
the day and political parties are ensuring they present their best candidate
before the electorate in 2015. Many Nigerians are also gearing up for the elections
as most conversations now centre on the coming elections or the roles being
played by any of the many protagonists and antagonists in the political movies playing in Nigeria now. As we all
get closer to 2015, its quite important that we all protect out votes and
ensure that we report any electoral criminality that we may observe or suspect.

An example of such criminality is the improper use of Voter’s
cards as provided for in Section 120 of the Electoral Act 2010 which provides that – Any person who –

being entitled to a Voter’s card, gives it to some other
person for use at an election other than an officer and acting in the course of
his duty under the act;
not being an officer acting in the course of his duty under
the Act, receives any voters card in the name of some other person or persons
for use at an election uses it fraudulently;
without lawful excuse has in his possession more than one Voter’s
card; or
buys, sells, procures or deals, with a voters card otherwise
than as provided in the Act: commits an offence and is liable on conviction to
a maximum fine of N1,000,000 (One million naira) ir imprisonment for 12 months
or both.

From the abovce provisons of the law, it is obvious anyone
caught commiting such criminality will have some explaining to do and possibly
some jail term to serve or fine to pay, thus it’s important no one participates
in such acts. Please share this article with as many people as you can to
discourage electoral offences.

Adedunmade Onibokun, Esq

@adedunmade

dunmadeo@yahoo.com