Analysis of the Electoral Act (2010) has countered the directive from President Muhammadu Buhari for security operatives to deal ruthlessly with snatches of ballot boxes in next Saturday presidential poll.
According to the Act, the maximum sentence for snatching of ballot boxes is 24 months imprisonment.
Section 129 (4) of the Electoral Act states, “Any person who snatches or destroys any election material commits an offence and is liable on conviction to 24 months imprisonment.”
The Act further states that anyone who directly or indirectly engages in electoral violence shall be liable to three years in prison or a fine of N1m
Section 131. (1) states, “A person who- Threatening directly or indirectly, by himself or by another person on his behalf, makes use of or threatens to make use of any force, violence or restrain;
(b) inflicts or threatens to inflict by himself or by any other person, any minor or serious injury, damage, harm or loss on or against a person in order to induce or compel that person to vote or refrain from voting, or on account of such person having voted or refrained from voting; or
© by abduction, duress, or a fraudulent device or contrivance, impedes or prevents the free use of the vote by a voter or thereby compels, induces, or prevails on a voter to give or refrain from giving his vote,
(d) by preventing any political aspirants from free use of the media, designated vehicles, mobilisation of political support and campaign at an election, commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine of N1,000, 000 or imprisonment for a term of three years.”
