US charges three Nigerians among 16 foreign nationals over election fraud claims

Three Nigerians are among 16 foreign nationals facing charges in the United States over alleged election-related offences, including illegal voting and falsely claiming US citizenship, P.M. News reports.

The US Department of Justice announced the cases on Friday, saying the defendants had been charged in separate federal districts with offences ranging from unlawful voter registration and voting by non-citizens to naturalisation, passport and wire fraud.

The three Nigerians named are Gladys Adaeze Okafor, 56, Helen Sayen Adams, 67, and Joshua Nmelichukwu Akpom, 27. According to the DOJ, Okafor, a lawful permanent resident in Massachusetts, obtained her status in December 2022 but allegedly signed a voter registration certification falsely declaring US citizenship before voting in the 2022 midterm and 2024 presidential primary.

Adams, also a lawful permanent resident, was charged in the Northern District of Texas after allegedly falsely claiming citizenship to register to vote in June 2024 and subsequently casting a ballot that November.

Akpom’s case, meanwhile, centres on his 2026 naturalisation application, in which he allegedly denied having previously registered or voted, despite prosecutors alleging he voted in the 2018 general election — with the DOJ noting the naturalisation charge was pursued instead due to the five-year statute of limitations on the voting offence.

The remaining defendants in the 16-person case are nationals of Mexico, India, the DRC, Antigua and Barbuda, Venezuela, Colombia and Russia, facing charges spanning voter fraud to an unlawful firearm purchase.

The DOJ stressed that all allegations remain unproven, with defendants presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.