The chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offenses Commission (ICPC), Bolaji Owasanoye, has said vote buying and lack of accountability by major stakeholders involved in the electoral process delegitimizes the outcome of elections.
He made this known on Tuesday at the National Policy Dialogue on Eradicating Electoral Corruption, focus on Vote Buying, held at the Anti-Corruption Academy of Nigeria (ACAN) in Keffi, Nasarawa state.
He said, “Political larceny continues to challenge the integrity of the electoral process, delegitimizes the outcome of elections.
“It breeds corruption and creates a sense in political office holders that they purchased power and therefore not accountable to the people.”
He said corruption is a national problem, noting that the sooner political corruption is dealt with and removed from the electoral process, the better for our democracy.
Owasanoye said the fight against corruption is most impactful when all stakeholders come together to confront the issue.
He said the success of Policy Dialogue is in developing guidelines for the definition of vote buying, reporting incidents, sanctioning offenders and mobilizing the public against the corrupt practice.
In his remarks, the Secretary of the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha, said the Buhari administration in 2017, approved and adopted a National Anti-Corruption Strategy (2017-2021) to strengthen electoral process across the country.
Mustapha who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, General Services (SGF), Olusegun Adeleke, charged the participants to develop a policy framework that will guide the electoral management body, political actors, citizens and anti-corruption agencies on handling incidents of vote buying.
