Bolaji Akinyemi, former minister of external affairs, says Nigerians can approach the international criminal court (ICC) to prosecute electoral offenders in the country.
“Every time we have an election, both the UK and the US raise this prospect of sanctions against those who they suspect are guilty of malfeasance and seeking to sabotage the democratic process. But then, nothing ever happens,” Akinyemi said.
“I cannot remember any person being sanctioned in terms of visa denial. We do hear from time to time names bandied around but we have never seen these sanctions really applied. That is why I just think this is all noise that will not lead anywhere.
“In terms of Nigeria sanctioning these people. There are laws in our criminal code that are against hooliganism and breach of peace.
“You cannot tell me that unless it is election time, you can break somebody’s head and you will not be charged to court? That is assault. We should use our criminal code to prosecute those who have done bodily arms to other people.
“The ICC is there for dealing with offences that border on hate crimes and sponsoring election [violence] and agitation against the group, not just the individual.
“It has been used in Cote D’Ivoire and Kenya. So we should be careful that if we do not prosecute these people and US and UK do not activate their visa sanction, the ICC is there. And there is sufficient evidence on paper that can activate that.”
Source: Top Stories