US Charges Two Nigerians, 61 Others Over Alleged Illegal Voting and Voter Fraud

The United States Department of Justice has charged two Nigerians and 61 other foreign nationals with alleged illegal voting, fraudulent voter registration and making false claims of American citizenship in connection with federal elections.

The 63 individuals are accused of offences including voting in federal elections without being US citizens, falsely claiming American citizenship to register or vote, and submitting fraudulent voter registration applications.

The department announced the charges on Monday as part of an intensified crackdown on alleged election-related offences under President Donald Trump’s administration.

The two 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 by a non-US citizen. He allegedly voted in the 2022 and 2024 elections.

Agah, meanwhile, was charged in the Western District of North Carolina with voting by a non-US citizen and falsely claiming American citizenship to vote.

The department alleged that Agah falsely declared himself a US citizen on an Authorization to Vote Form before voting in a federal election on November 5, 2024.

Attorney General Todd Blanche described the latest announcement as the largest surge of 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.

He accused the defendants of taking advantage of the trust of the American people and violating laws governing the country’s elections, adding that the department would continue investigating and prosecuting voter fraud.

The Justice Department said it had charged 195 non-US citizens across 25 states with illegal voting and registration offences in the preceding nine weeks. This brings the total number of people charged with voting-related fraud offences since the beginning of the Trump administration to 239.

The latest cases come less than two months after the department announced charges against three other Nigerians and 13 foreign nationals over alleged election-related offences.

The Nigerians named in the earlier cases were 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 connection with his naturalisation application.

The Justice Department said the latest prosecutions involve several federal judicial districts, including Texas, North Carolina, Tennessee, California, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Those charged include nationals of Mexico, Jamaica, Canada, the Philippines, India, Colombia and the United Kingdom, among other countries.

The department stressed that complaints, indictments and criminal informations contain allegations, adding that all defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in court.