The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), on Thursday said it will intensify its war against vote buying during the 2023 general elections.
The commission’s chairman, Abdulrasheed Bawa stated this while responding to questions from journalists after the 2023 budget defence session with the Senate Committee on Anti-Corruption and Cybercrime, at the National Assembly.
He said the war has already begun with offenders arrested from the Osun governorship election and currently facing prosecution.
“The war against vote buying will be total in the 2023 general elections towards making the entire process very credible,” he said.
He added that aside from the Osun election, cases of those arrested for vote buying in previous elections were ongoing in court and that the commission would continue partnering with INEC to arrest and prosecute persons involved in vote buying.
“We will continue to do what we have to do; we are trying to ensure that illegitimate funds are not finding their way into our electoral processes,” he said.
He lauded the redesigning of naira notes by the Central Bank of Nigeria, (CBN), saying: “With the new policy, the commission will be able to monitor people holding currencies legitimately and illegitimately.”
On the fight against cybercrimes, Bawa urged youths to support the commission to rid the nation of cybercrimes and other criminal activities associated with cyberspace.
He said as of October 2022, the commission succeeded in securing 2,847 convictions of cybercrime perpetrators.
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