APPRAISAL OF THE OFFENCES OF DESTRUCTION OF ELECTION MATERIALS AND OBSTRUCTION OF ELECTORAL PROCESS UNDER THE ELECTORAL ACT 2022

Abstract

Offences relating to destruction of election materials and obstruction of electoral process have elaborate provisions under the Electoral Act 2022. These offences are prevalent in all the elections in Nigeria since independence. These offences affect the integrity of the electoral process. These offences are explicitly defined in the Electoral Act 2022. These offences are serious violations of the electoral process and are treated with strict penalties under the Nigerian law. The judiciary plays a crucial role in addressing these offences. The prevalence of these offences in our electoral system in Nigeria is so alarming and that necessitated the writer to focus his searchlight into these offences with the aim of reducing these offences to their barest minimum for the purpose of strengthening Nigeria’s democratic space. Doctrinal research methodology was adopted in this work. The work came to the conclusion that these offences are the major threat to achieving free and fair elections in Nigeria. The work proffers solutions towards eradicating these menaces for the benefit of our nascent democracy.