EFCC, INEC, security agencies partner to prevent vote-buying

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on Friday declared that it was working with the Independent National Electoral Commission and security agencies to stop vote-buying and would ensure it prevention in the forthcoming general elections.

Speaking at a commemorative event for the United Nations International Anti-Corruption Day 2022 in Abuja, the Chairman, EFCC, Abdulrasheed Bawa, said the importance of transparent, free and fair elections could not be overstated.

Anti-corruption agencies that were at the event included the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative and the Inter-Agency Task Team, among others.

Represented by the Director of Operations, Abdulkarim Chukkol, the EFCC chairman stated that it was in the interest of Nigerians that the anti-corruption movement ensure free and fair elections in 2023.

The tragedy of the most recent elections in Nigeria, according to Bawa, was the vote-trading issue. He added that both the political elite, which provided money, and the electorate, which sold its votes for meager sums, were at fault.

“The consequence of the latter category is harsh. When electorates sell their votes, they lose the moral ground to ask for accountable leadership,” he said.

Bawa stated that recent measures to prevent the use of money to influence election results had been made by the EFCC.