The United States Department of Justice has announced charges against three Nigerian nationals and 13 other foreign nationals over alleged illegal voting, false claims of US citizenship and related election offences.
The Nigerians were identified as Gladys Adaeze Okafor, 56; Helen Sayen Adams, 67; and Joshua Nmelichukwu Akpom, 27.
The DOJ announced the cases on Friday as part of charges against 16 individuals across the United States involving alleged illegal voting, unlawful voter registration and other election-related offences.
Okafor, a Nigerian national and lawful permanent resident in Massachusetts, was arrested and charged with allegedly voting in the 2022 midterm election. Prosecutors also allege that she voted in the 2024 presidential primary despite not being a US citizen at the time.
According to the DOJ, Okafor obtained lawful permanent resident status in December 2022 but had allegedly registered to vote and cast a ballot before then. The department said she signed a voter registration certification stating that she was a US citizen.
Adams, also a Nigerian citizen and lawful permanent resident, was charged in the Northern District of Texas with voting by an alien in a federal election and making a false statement of citizenship in order to register to vote.
Prosecutors allege that Adams falsely claimed to be a US citizen when she registered to vote in Texas in June 2024 and subsequently voted in the November 2024 general election. She became a lawful permanent resident in May 2024, according to the DOJ.
Akpom, a Nigerian citizen and lawful permanent resident since 2016, faces a different charge relating to alleged false statements made during the naturalisation process.
The DOJ said he allegedly denied on a 2026 naturalisation application that he had previously claimed US citizenship, registered to vote or voted, despite prosecutors alleging that he registered to vote in 2017 and voted in the 2018 general election.
The department said the alleged 2018 voting conduct fell outside the applicable five-year statute of limitations for the voting offence, leading prosecutors to rely on the alleged false statements made during his naturalisation application.
