N21bn Jonathan Donation: We Lack Powers To Investigate Donors, Says INEC

As Nigerians continue to debate the legal and moral implications of
the huge amount of funds donated towards President Goodluck Jonathan's
2015 electioneering campaign, the Independent National Electoral
Commission, INEC, has said that only security agencies can investigate
any party, individual or company that violates any part of the
country's Electoral Act.
The commission, which however admitted that it had the power to
prosecute violators of the Act, explained that before it could do so,
concrete evidence must be presented before it.
At a fundraising dinner organized by the Peoples Democratic Party,
PDP, for its 2015 presidential candidate – Goodluck Jonathan – at the
Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa, Abuja on Saturday, state
governors, individuals, corporate bodies and political groups raised
over N21.27 billion on the night with prominent lawyers, the
opposition All Progressives Congress, APC, and cross-section of
Nigerians calling for the prosecution of the donors. They argued that
aside the moral burden placed on the president by the donors, they
(donors) also violated the Electoral Act by exceeding the stipulated
limit.
Section 91(9) of the Act reads, "An individual or other entity shall
not donate more than N1, 000, 000 to any candidate".
Likewise, sub-section 10 of the same section adds that a presidential
candidate "who knowingly acts in contravention of this section commits
an offence and on conviction is liable to a maximum fine of N1m or
imprisonment for a term of 12 months or both".
Furthermore, Section 91(2) of the same Act states, "The maximum
election expenses to be incurred by a candidate at a presidential
election shall be N1bn".
In response to an enquiry byThe PUNCHon whether INEC would investigate
and prosecute the donors, the commission's Director of Voter Education
and Publicity, Mr. Oluwole Osaze-Uzzi, stated that, "Before you
prosecute, won't you investigate? Before you prosecute somebody, the
person has to be investigated. If a person shoots another man on the
street, the police cannot just charge him to court. They will have to
follow a process.
"Don't forget that INEC has no powers to investigate. But it has
powers to prosecute. It is the security agencies that investigate. We
don't have investigative powers; but we have prosecutorial powers. If
they have investigated and found out that somebody was wrong, we will
prosecute that person.
"It is after investigation that we can prosecute. And there must be an
evidence that a crime has been committed".
When asked if the commission had contacted any of the security
agencies over the issue, his terse response was: "I can't say yes or
no as of now".