By Fabian EkerucheThe Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA) has urged the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to check illicit funds and vote buying during the governorship and House of Assembly elections.
This is contained in a statement by HEDA’s Chairman, Mr Olanrewaju Suraj, on Sunday in Lagos.
Suraj said the regulatory authorities needed to be vigilant to prevent politicians from leveraging on the recent judgement of the Supreme Court on old Naira notes to prefect vote buying in the March 11 elections.
He said that the circulation of old Naira notes as legal tender would create loopholes in the fight against corruption and insurgency in the country it was proposed to acheive.
“With the Supreme Court judgment delivered that the old notes continue to be legal tender, the CBN and other financial institutions must swing into action by deploying some control measures to track counterfeiting and illicit cash flow by corrupt politicians and their allies.
“Scrutiny should be intensified by the Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit and the EFCC to track bank officials, estate managers and bureau de change operators to check the movement of illicit funds within and outside the financial institutions.
He said that vote-buying may be on the high side with the availability of old Naira notes against what was experienced during the presidential and National Assembly elections.
Suraj added that the EFCC should sustained its commendable efforts in curbing vote-buying by desperate politicians with the aim of disrupting the integrity of the electoral process.(NAN)
