ABUJA, Nigeria (The Informant247) – As the 2023 election campaigns approach in Nigeria, the government has been charged to strengthen the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission and other anti-corruption agencies.
A coalition of civil society organisations – which include Accountability Lab Nigeria, Connected Development, SERAP, BudgIT, CJID, PLSI, Yiaga Africa and EIE – gave the admonition before reporters in Abuja on Monday.
Executive Director, YIAGA Africa, Samson Itodo and Executive Director, CODE, Hamzat Lawal, who spoke, said despite the existence of a legal framework for asset declaration for political office holders, the level of compliance was unknown.
According to them, lack of public data on the assets of potential political aspirants provides an avenue for opacity and a lack of accountability, thereby fuelling political corruption.
Also, the 2022 primary elections in Nigeria brought to the fore the reality of vote buying.
According to news reports, delegates to the primary elections of the two major parties were paid thousands of dollars to induce them to vote for certain candidates.
In the 2022 governorship elections in Ekiti and Osun States in western Nigeria, voters were wooed by party agents with inducement offers ranging from N3,000 to N10,000 (up to about US$24).