Ibrahim Magu, acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC has reassured the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC of the Commission’s commitment and partnership towards ensuring public confidence and forestall vote – buying in the 2019 elections.
“As an agency, saddled with the responsibility of enforcing the anti Money Laundering Act, 2011 as amended, we are committed to ensuring that illicit money is not deployed to fund the elections. We are mindful of the fact that only credible candidates must be elected into offices and this can only be achieved when the electioneering process is devoid of manipulations”
Magu gave this assurance through the Ibadan Zonal Head, Abdulrasheed Bawa, Thursday, 20th, December 2018 during a courtesy visit of the Oyo State Resident Commissioner of INEC, Barr. Mutiu Agboke to the Iyaganku, G.R.A office of the Commission in Ibadan.
Reiterating the importance of a more robust collaboration and synergy between INEC and the EFCC, Mutiu said, “notwithstanding the existing collaboration between both agencies, I decided to visit to appreciate the earlier interventions and to seek for your assistance and assurances of interventions in the unfolding issues of the upcoming elections particularly to foster a more robust synergy that will help us come up with a workable template to curtail the issue of vote buying and manipulation of the process. For us in INEC, our mandate is to conduct elections, promote the confidence of Nigerians in the process and ensure that the entire process is free from fraud and manipulations. This is where the EFCC comes in. We want the EFCC to help us in the security of the PVCs, forestall vote buying and regulate entire process of party financing by politicians.”
Speaking further, he said “we are making efforts to entrench public confidence by engaging with all the stakeholders which includes the various political parties, members of the public and spreading the message of no-violence to all. We are emphasizing the slogan: “No PVC, No vote”
Responding, Bawa said “it is a serious problem that candidates are taking advantage of Nigerians who do not know the value of their electoral power by trading their votes. It is imperative that you do more in the area of public/Voters Education to address this problem for the purpose of ensuring a free, fair and credible election. As you are aware, we are working and prosecuting all the politicians and INEC officials involved in the electoral fraud of the previous elections. We are also committed to helping you, within our mandate, to remove all the impediments to the process and ensure its credibility.
