The Presidential Candidate of the Zenith Labour Party, Dr Olusegun Mimiko has said government must have a clear cut plan on election finance reforms to holistically tackle corruption in the country.
Mimiko, who spoke on AIT’s morning programme, Kakaaki on Wednesday, said fighting something as endemic as corruption in Nigeria requires a well spelt out coherent strategy.
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He said “if election finance has been a major source of corruption, then there must be a clear cut plan on election finance reforms.
“Looking at the quantum of money spent on recent elections in Ekiti and Osun states and primaries across the country, it shows there’s nothing the present government is doing on election finance reforms.”
According to Mimiko, the general perception is that current efforts are selective if not vindictive and the current blatant monetisation of the electoral process reinforces such a perception, as the way the fight against corruption has been carried out by the present administration appears to be a disservice to the nation’s effort to curb corruption.
Mimiko, who is the immediate past governor of Ondo State added that if the government wants to faithfully fight corruption, and not use it as a political tool to intimidate political opponents, “election finance reforms and deepening of the cashless policy are powerful tools through which corruption can be fought.”