By Sanni Marvelous
Political stakeholders in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have called for the establishment of an Electoral Offences Tribunal and a Police Electoral Offences Desk to ensure effective prosecution of election-related crimes ahead of the February 2026 Area Council elections.
The demand formed part of a communiqué issued at the end of the FCT Anti-Electoral Offences Forum held on October 2, 2025, at the Association for Public Policy Analysis (APPA) conference hall in Mpape, Abuja.
The meeting, attended by political party members, candidates, and civil society representatives, was convened to review the report of an earlier forum held on September 17, 2025. Discussions centred on practical steps to prevent electoral malpractice and strengthen public confidence in the forthcoming elections.
At the end of the deliberations, participants resolved that the Chief Judge of the FCT should be approached to establish an Electoral Offences Tribunal for the prosecution of offenders during the elections, while the Commissioner of Police, FCT, should set up an Electoral Offences Desk at the Police Headquarters and divisional offices across the Area Councils.
The communiqué further urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to appoint legal officers for prosecuting electoral offenders in line with Section 144 of the Electoral Act 2022 (as amended).
Stakeholders also proposed a series of actions to promote transparency and public awareness. These include holding a press conference involving political stakeholders and candidates on October 6 or 7, 2025, to publicly reinforce the anti-electoral offences campaign.
They advised political parties to engage INEC more actively on issues that undermine enforcement of electoral offences laws during voter registration, campaigns, and elections. Political parties, the communiqué said, should also train their members to understand relevant provisions of the Electoral Act dealing with electoral crimes.
According to the forum, every political party should set up an Electoral Offences Prevention Committee to monitor and discourage violations during the election period. It also emphasized the need for daily media engagement, urging journalists to consistently “bombard citizens with clips, stories or videos on anti-electoral offences” to leave “a lasting imprint on the minds of the people.”
The communiqué called for a sustained media campaign and strategic collaboration with key institutions such as the Mandate Secretariat and the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) to advocate for enforcement of electoral laws. Participants also recommended advocacy meetings with various interest groups to build grassroots support for credible elections.
To strengthen field monitoring, the forum proposed collaboration with the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), and the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) to establish an Anti-Electoral Offence Brigade. The unit, according to the communiqué, would comprise young people drawn from different political parties who would monitor polling centres and report or prevent electoral crimes such as vote buying.
“These youths will be selected across different political parties, made to register before recruitment, requested to take an oath of the office they’ll fill and engage in training exercises that will be conducted for them,” the communiqué stated.
The stakeholders also resolved to write to the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), seeking collaboration on voter sensitization to educate citizens about their electoral rights and responsibilities. Business owners, they noted, should be enlightened on how electoral offences negatively affect the economy and encouraged to support anti-electoral campaigns.
The communiqué was signed by Chief Princewill Okorie, Miss Stella Ogilegwu, Ms Fatima Yusuf, and Mr Afolabi Wahab, and was shared with Datavox Media on Friday.
