The chairperson of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Abdulrasheed Bawa, claims that some politicians intend to buy votes by distributing items rather than cash.
In an interview with Channels Television monitored by BizWatch Nigeria on Wednesday, Bawa said the anti-graft agency is ready to arrest anyone caught buying votes during Saturday’s elections.
Stakeholders have expressed concern that vote buying could jeopardize the election’s integrity ahead of the general election.
However, when the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) implemented the naira redesign policy, it was interpreted as a means of combating vote buying.
Bawa, the EFCC’s chair, urged Nigerians to work with the agency to combat vote-buying.
“Of course, we have intel that a lot of people have bought some items that they want to use to buy votes in kind not in cash. All of these things are out there. We will watch out for [them],” he said.
“Politicians are also Nigerians. They are professionals and some of them turned into politicians. We (EFCC) have our own ways of doing our things.”
“Some of these monies that have been printed will all come out this Saturday after the election because some of them are hoarded and it will be distributed around,” he said.
