The United States Department of Justice has filed charges against three Nigerian nationals and 13 other foreign nationals over alleged election-related offences, including unlawful voting and falsely claiming American citizenship.
The Nigerians are Gladys Adaeze Okafor, 56; Helen Sayen Adams, 67; and Joshua Nmelichukwu Akpom, 27.
The DOJ announced the cases on Friday, saying the 16 defendants were being prosecuted in different federal districts for alleged violations connected to voter registration, elections, citizenship and naturalisation.
Okafor, a Nigerian national and lawful permanent resident in Massachusetts, was previously arrested over allegations that she registered and voted despite not being a US citizen.
Prosecutors alleged that she voted in the 2022 midterm election and the 2024 presidential primary after registering as a voter.
According to the department, Okafor obtained lawful permanent resident status in December 2022 and had neither become nor applied to become a US citizen when she allegedly registered to vote.
The DOJ said she signed a voter registration certification affirming that she was a US citizen.
Adams, who is also a Nigerian citizen and lawful permanent resident, was charged in the Northern District of Texas with allegedly voting in a federal election despite being ineligible and making a false citizenship declaration to register to vote.
Prosecutors alleged that Adams claimed to be a US citizen when she registered to vote in Texas in June 2024 and later voted in the November 2024 general election.
The DOJ said, “Adams falsely claimed to be a United States citizen in order to register to vote.”
Akpom faces allegations relating to his naturalisation application rather than a direct voting charge.
According to prosecutors, he allegedly failed to disclose previous claims of US citizenship and voting activity in a 2026 application for naturalisation.
The department alleged that Akpom had registered to vote in 2017 and voted in the 2018 general election, despite later answering “no” to questions concerning previous claims of US citizenship, voter registration or voting.
The DOJ explained that the alleged 2018 voting conduct was outside the applicable five-year statute of limitations, prompting prosecutors to pursue the alleged false statements made during the naturalisation process.
The other defendants in the cases are nationals of Mexico, India, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Antigua and Barbuda, Venezuela, Colombia and Russia.
The allegations across the cases include voting while ineligible, falsely claiming US citizenship, wire fraud, naturalisation fraud, passport fraud and an alleged unlawful firearm purchase.
The department stressed that the charges contained in complaints, indictments and other court documents are allegations.
It added that “all defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.”
