The acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Ibrahim Magu, has condemned the increasing wave of illicit financial flows and vote-buying during elections in the country.
He spoke in Lagos during a round-table meeting with managing directors of financial institutions in Nigeria. The conference has as its theme: “Roles and Obligations of Managing Directors of Banks in Nigeria in Curbing Vote-Buying During an Election, Illicit Financial Flows and Other Related Matters in Nigeria.”
The EFCC chair, in his address, recalled that the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Godwin Emefiele, during a meeting with Bankers’ Committee sometime in September 2018, made a commitment to work with the EFCC and the banks to curb this menace.
He said illicit financial flows would reduce the amount of resources available to the government to provide critical social services to the citizenry.
According to the anti-graft czar, vote-buying during elections would prevent credible candidates from running for political offices, adding that “in Nigeria, vote-buying has reached an alarming proportion to the extent that politicians have now spread their tentacles to election officials, security agencies, election observers and even the media”.
Magu, however, lamented that the illicit financial flows out of the country was on the increase and that politicians were still perpetrating and trying to finalise their acts of vote-buying.
“It is also worthy of note that illicit financial flows during election are a common denominator and can be tied to vote-buying. Politicians either bring in money to further their cause or try to export money to their cohorts outside the country to get them to influence the elections in one way or the other”, he added.