Trending 
The Senator representing the Edo North senatorial district, Adams Oshiomhole, has said election rigging is the most serious crime in a democracy and warned that those involved in election fraud would “have a fair space in prison.”
Oshiomhole, speaking on News Central’s Politics HQ on Monday, said, “The worst crime you can commit is to cheat on an election.”
The senator, who represents the Edo North senatorial district, stated that leaders who are trusted to use public resources for the common good because they were freely chosen by the people are what make democracies strong.
“The beauty of democracy is to have that inner feeling that out of the number of people in your constituency, whether local government, federal, senatorial, governorship, or presidency, or whatever, you have been chosen by the people, believing that using their collective patrimony, you will be able to apply their resources creatively to deliver the greatest number,” he said.
Oshiomhole hinted that leaders who emerge through credible elections can face the public with pride after leaving office.
“At the end of the day, when you are out of office, you can see the people, and they will say, ‘When you were a governor, when you were a senator, this happened,” he said.
He noted that while courts play an important role in resolving election disputes, “sometimes there’s a huge difference between justice and judgement, but that is what it is all over the world.”
Oshiomhole said Nigeria’s electoral laws now include penalties for vote-buying and for electoral officials who act in ways that undermine voters’ will.
The former Edo State governor stated that offenders now face not only fines but prison sentences, noting that “while you are in prison, you ask yourself, was it worth it to try to cheat in favour of a guy who is enjoying himself?”
According to him, the law now applies penalties to politicians, electoral officials, and political parties involved in election malpractice.
“It is no longer just moral condemnation. that this is unfair; a lot of these actions have been criminalised,” Oshiomhole said.
He added that recent reforms aim to ensure that those found guilty of election fraud do not go free when elections are nullified.
“Those who participate in this process will have a fair space in prison,” he said.
