2023: We Are Closely Monitoring Spending Patterns Of Top Politicians, EFCC Says

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has revealed that it is closely monitoring the spending patterns of top politicians as campaigns for the 2023 general election hit top gear.

Naija News reports that the anti-graft agency said the monitoring of those politicians was to ensure they don’t use money to influence the election process.

According to chairman of the commission, Abdulrasheed Bawa, even though they have gotten a lot of petitions over spending of politicians, they are being careful about any questioning for now to prevent any to be misconstrued as political witch-hunting.

Bawa, at the weekly briefings coordinated by the Presidential Media Team at the State House in Abuja on Thursday,  said petitions about some key politicians have been sent to the commission but EFCC has to critically look into them before any further action.

The EFCC boss noted that the petitions received are being currently reviewed by the. Petitions Vetting Desk/Committee of EFCC, made up of experienced officers from the Legal Department and people trained to investigate such petitions to ascertain if they have merits that will warrant prosecution.

While fielding questions from pressmen, Bawa explained that the EFCC under his watch is working for the interest of Nigerians, therefore every petition the commission has received would be carefully looked into to establish the veracity of such petition.

While responding to if or not the EFCC has received any petition about any of the presidential candidates running for the 2023 general election, Bawa submitted that “My concern is, at this hour, do you want us to start inviting all the presidential candidates to come to our office to make statements? You, the same media, will say it’s politically motivated.

“So we are not, but we are working behind the scene regarding such petitions we have received to see those that have merits, so that’s why we are not politicizing it.

“That’s another reason why we have what we call Petitions Vetting Desk/Committee made up of experienced officers from the Legal Department as well as those trained to investigate that will review these petitions to see whether they are in line with our own mandate before they will recommend whether they will be prosecuted by the EFCC.

“There are also benchmarks, so to speak, that guide our procedures, you know, in terms of accepting or rejecting petitions, as we also have criteria which have even been publicised to guide petitioners on the requirements to make a petition to have merit.”