The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) says intelligence at its disposal has shown some politicians are planning to buy votes in kind rather than with cash.
The anti-graft agency’s Chairman, Abdulrasheed Bawa said this while on Wednesday in an interview on Channels Television’s The 2023 Verdict.
Bawa restated the commitment of the agency to curb vote buying adding that the agency will arrest anyone caught on Saturday buying votes.
“We have intel that a lot of people have bought some items that they want to use to buy votes in kind not in cash. Some of these things are out there. We will watch out for them.
“Politicians are also Nigerians. We too have a way of doing our own things. We have our own experiences in this as well,” he said
The EFCC boss asked all Nigerians to cooperate with the anti-graft agency in its efforts in fighting vote buying in Saturday’s Presidential and National Assembly polls.
He also urged the citizens to vote for people with integrity and ethical standard into elective positions.
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According to him, vote buying is a serious issue that affects the future of Nigeria and its citzens and must be stopped by all means.
Asked what hurdle the commission is facing regarding the vote buying, Bawa said: “I think the hurdle is if Nigerians are not buying into what we are doing. I think that is the biggest hurdle.
“Once we are united in that front because the office of the citizen of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is the most powerful office in this country.
“We can all come together to ensure that the people we are voting into various elective positions are people with proven integrity and of higher ethical standard. The only way you can determine that are those that have genuinely sold themselves in what they will do when they get into office.”
Speaking on the scarcity of naira notes, Bawa alleged that some public civil servants out there or some businessmen with questionable character still have these funds out there stashed in their homes
“Throughout this exercise, from October 2022 to date, we have not arrested anybody. We have not raised any question regarding who deposited what, where and how because we’re determined not to cause too much panic within the system.
“One of the cardinal objectives of the policy is to ensure that monies are returned to the banking system, and that is why we are holding on; we’re not eager to start that ( arrest anyone hoarding cash). Facts cannot change for things that are already within the financial institutions.
“Some of these monies that have been printed will all come out this Saturday after the election because some of them are hoarded and it will be distributed around,” he said.