Police have been “made aware of a potential electoral matter” after multiple general election candidates were registered under the name of a YouTube prankster.
Independent candidates under the name Niko Omilana are listed in 11 constituencies across England and Scotland – including Rishi Sunak‘s, Richmond and Northallerton.
Omilana appears to have alluded to the move in a video on his social media channels, in which he says he has “decided to run for prime minister” and wants to “remove” Mr Sunak from politics.
He has more than seven million subscribers on YouTube and is known for stunts including sneaking into the KSI vs Logan Paul boxing rematch and trying to get into the ring.
In 2021, he ran in the London Mayoral election – and ended up being the top independent candidate after winning nearly 50,000 votes.
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Addressing the multiple Niko Omilana candidates, the YouTuber said in one video: “We will remove Rishi and on top of this, we have done the impossible. We attempted to run Niko Omilana in multiple places across the country, and somehow we managed to make it happen.
“My aim is for Niko Omilana to get more votes than anyone else and declare myself prime minister.”
Where is Niko Omilana named as standing?
As well as Richmond and Northallerton, Niko Omilana is listed to stand in Leeds East, Leeds South, Coventry South, Greenwich and Woolwich, North West Essex, Bermondsey and Old Southwark, Birmingham Perry Barr, Dundee Central, Stockton West and Ealing Southall.
Each of them is registered under a different address and their nomination papers were signed by different people.
The Electoral Commission said: “We are aware that the same person has been nominated as a candidate in a number of constituencies at the general election.
“Candidates must confirm in their nomination papers that they are not standing in any other constituency.
“It is an offence for an individual to provide false information on nomination papers when applying to stand as a candidate, including to falsely confirm that they are not standing in another constituency.”
If that has occurred, they added, then this is a police matter.
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Under electoral law, returning officers must take details in candidate nomination forms at face value and accept them if the nomination meets requirements.
Candidates do not need to show ID when submitting the forms and the returning officers do not have the power to investigate.
It is an offence to give a false statement on a nomination form and the penalty can be a prison term of up to six months or a fine, the Electoral Commission added.
North Yorkshire Police said “we have been made aware of a potential electoral matter”, which is being looked into, and West Midlands Police said they had “received the information and are liaising with the relevant authorities”.
A spokesperson from Coventry City Council said: “The penalty for a false statement is either an unlimited fine in England and Wales, £10,000 in Scotland and/or up to one year’s imprisonment.
“If a candidate who has knowingly made a false statement on their nomination paper is subsequently elected, the election result could be invalidated via a court process.”
A Leeds City Council spokesperson said: “Although we have received two nominations with the same name in different constituencies, they have come from two different people who say they are using names that they are legally entitled to use.
“We have no powers or ability to investigate such issues, and have to accept information on nominations at face value, with very rare exceptions.
“We understand similar nominations have been received by several different local authorities.”