Ahead of Saturday’s general elections, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has stated that some politicians are planning to buy votes either in kind and/or cash. This claim was made by the EFCC Chairman, Abdulrasheed Bawa on Wednesday during an interview on an election program on Channels Television known as ‘The 2023 Verdict’.
He said, “We have intelligence that a lot of politicians have bought some items that they will use to buy votes in kind and not in cash. But we are prepared for any situation and will not hesitate to arrest anyone caught in the act. We will watch out for all these things on election day.”
He also disclosed that some individuals were also hoarding old and new naira notes with the aim of buying votes.
Bawa said, “I don’t want to say only governors are hoarding naira notes, there are public servants out there doing the same thing or some businessmen with questionable characters are still having these funds in their homes.
“So, I don’t want to say governors are these but I will say that public servants, either retired or serving and some businessmen with questionable characters are on our radar.
“The biggest hurdle is if Nigerians don’t buy into what we are doing but I believe once we are united, we would be able to take inadequacies out of our system.”
In a similar development, the Commission published a list of hotlines nationwide for the upcoming elections in a statement titled, “Reporting Financial Crime in the Electoral Process.”
According to the statement, members of the public are encouraged to report any observed form of financial inducement by any party representative during the upcoming elections via the hotlines which can be accessed on the Commission’s official website or Twitter page @officialefcc.
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