Fidelia Soriwei, Abuja
The United States Department of Justice has charged two Nigerian nationals and 61 other foreign nationals with alleged election-related offences, including illegal voting, fraudulent voter registration and falsely claiming American citizenship.
The 63 defendants are accused of offences connected to federal elections, with charges filed across several judicial districts in the country.
The Nigerians were identified as Mohammed Omar Hassan, 61, and Michael Agah, 74. Both are lawful permanent residents of the United States.
According to a statement published on the Justice Department’s website, Hassan was charged in the Southern District of Texas with voting as a non-US citizen. He allegedly voted in the 2022 and 2024 elections.
Agah was charged in the Western District of North Carolina with voting as a non-US citizen and falsely claiming American citizenship to vote.
The department said Agah allegedly declared himself a US citizen on an Authorization to Vote Form before voting in a federal election on November 5, 2024.
The latest prosecutions form part of an intensified investigation into alleged voter fraud under President Donald Trump’s administration.
US Attorney General Todd Blanche described the announcement as the largest increase in voter-fraud arrests since Trump returned to office.
“Today’s announcement marks the largest surge of voter-fraud arrests since President Trump returned to office,” Blanche said.
“These foreign nationals allegedly took advantage of the trust of the American people and flouted the laws that govern our nation’s elections. This Department of Justice will continue investigating and prosecuting voter fraud to restore confidence in our electoral system,” he added.
The Justice Department said it had charged 195 non-US citizens across 25 states with illegal voting and voter registration offences in the preceding nine weeks. The figure brings the total number of people charged with voting fraud-related offences since the beginning of the Trump administration to 239.
The latest cases follow charges announced in September against three other Nigerians and 13 foreign nationals over alleged election-related offences.
The Nigerians were identified as Gladys Adaeze Okafor, 56; Helen Sayen Adams, 67; and Joshua Nmelichukwu Akpom, 27. Okafor and Adams were accused of falsely claiming US citizenship to register and vote, while Akpom was charged with making false statements in his naturalisation application.
The latest prosecutions involve several federal judicial districts, including Texas, North Carolina, Tennessee, California, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Other foreign nationals charged include citizens of Mexico, Jamaica, Canada, the Philippines, India, Colombia and the United Kingdom.
The Justice Department stressed that complaints, indictments and informations contain allegations, adding that all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt in court.
