Ahead of the 2023 general elections, Nigeria’s anti-graft agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC), has assured that all those working to influence voters through financial inducement will be brought to Justice.
The Chairman of the Commission, Abdulrasheed Bawa stated this during a workshop on Financial Crimes Reporting organized by the anti-graft agency, for Journalists in Kano state, North Western Nigeria.
He said the agency is working in collaboration with the Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC) and other stakeholders to ensure implementation of the new electoral law and preserve the integrity of the process.
“We will ensure that the Electoral Act is fully enforced and those who seek to influence voters through financial inducement are brought to justice.
“The political recruitment process is vital to the anti-corruption cause as political will is crucial to sustaining the momentum of the fight against corruption in Nigeria” he said.
According to him, the commission has secured 3,440 convictions on financial and cyber-crimes from January to November 2022, stressing that despite the successes, a lot needs to be done.
He described Journalists as veritable instrument in the fight against corruption, hence the need to collaborate and enhance their skills in cyber and financial crimes reportage in the country.
“We believe there is still a lot to be done which is the reason why we are actively seeking the support of all stakeholders, including the media to assist in enlightening Nigerians to vote wisely and shun corruptive influences by politicians as well as educate the public on how to shun cybercrimes, illicit financial flows and money laundering, which are inimical to the nation’s development,” he said.
The Chairman, Abdulrasheed Bawa was represented at the event by the Kano start zonal commander of the agency, Farouk Dogondaji.
Delivering a paper titled ‘Challenges of Prosecuting Economic and Financial Crimes in Nigeri’, the Deputy Director, Legal and Prosecution, Aisha Tahar Habib, said conviction rates in Kano state is well over 90 per cent as the agency has had 160 criminal convictions losing only two and 180 civil convictions losing only one.
Other papers presented were on ‘Best practices in financial crimes reporting’ by Dele Oyewale and ‘Peculiarities, Trends and typologies and challenges of cybercrimes enforcement in Nigeria’ by Buhari Nuru Dalhatu.
The workshop, which earlier held in Lagos, Port Harcourt and now Kano states is billed to continue in other states across the federation.
