Ahead of the 2019 elections, the acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu said the commission has set its sights on campaign funds, stating that all bank transactions will be monitored and suspicious transactions investigated.
While speaking during an interactive section yesterday in Abuja, Magu, who cautioned politicians against reckless spending and bribery, said excessive use of money during elections leads to gross financial abuse and perversion of the electoral process and enthrone bad leadership which in turn creates corruption and bad governance.
He further noted that the EFFC will partner with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to address the rising cases of vote-buying; and insisted that investigation of election financing, which started with the investigation of the 2015 election funding, was aimed at disinfecting the electoral process.
According to him, “We will bring banks and other collaborators to book. We will monitor how monies are withdrawn from the banks. We will start this from a month or two from the general elections, for unusual withdrawal of cash.”
The EFCC boss also revealed techniques bankers use to hide huge withdrawals by splitting transactions into bits of N10 Million threshold, noting that “they will do it in one day but they will put different dates to make it three to four days but they actually do it in one day.”
He said movement of large amount of cash contravenes provisions of the Money Laundering Act. Magu also noted that investigation of corruption in the Judiciary by the EFCC has “helped in building public confidence again in our Judiciary.” The EFCC chairman, while speaking on security, said with the $2.1 billion Dasukigate investigation, numerous senior military officers and their civilian accomplices were investigated and tried.
