This assurance was given by the Southwest zonal head of the agency, AbdulRasheed Bawa while addressing journalists on Monday during the commencement of an anti-corruption walk 2018 which kicked off at the agency’s office at No 16, Rev’d Oyebode Crescent, Iyaganku GRA, Ibadan, Oyo State.
Bawa stated that the theme of this year ‘Say no against corruption and let your no counts’ is geared toward sensitising the Nigerian community to let their votes count by way of electing credible politicians to run the affairs of the country for the next four years.
The anti-corruption walk team involved other stakeholders in the fight against corruption like the National Orientation Agency (NOA), Chaplain Corps, RESCUE organisation, members of the National Youth Service Commission (NYSC) WAI Brigade, Immigration officers, National Union of Teachers (NUT), Oyo state wing, Federal Road Safety Corps, Eleyele unit, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSDCS) among others.
Some of the placard displayed during the walk from the Iyaganku office of the EFCC to Dugbe opposite Cocoa House and back to the office reads: “Say no to corruption, support the fight”, “Speak out and say no to corruption”, Nigeria is our country, we shall change it”, “red card against corruption”, “see something, say something, EFCC will do something”, and many more.
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Bawa who led other team members in the walk said “The movement in the country now is geared towards 2019 general elections. It is the period which we should make sure that our ‘no’ counts by electing credible leaders to govern the affairs of Nigeria as from 2019 to 2023.
“it’s to make sure that we are doing our mandate which is to rid this country of economic and financial crimes. The EFCC condemns totally, the monetisation of electoral processes in this country. We are all aware of what happened in the 2015 general election, the EFCC is still battling to conclude the case involving $115million INEC bribery funds that were used during the 2015 general election, so we want to make sure that the 2019 election is free from the monetisation of the polls by using illicit funds to finance elections.”
On whether the Commission has a hand in ensuring that alleged corrupt aspirant is not allowed to contest the election, the zonal head said only the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is saddled with screening of candidates, but was quick to add that the agency is not, however, folding its hands, but has been working to ensure that all works out well for the country.
Bawa said: “The EFCC is working hard with all the stakeholders with all hands on board to make sure that we do the right thing on our part as an agency saddled with the responsibility of fighting with economic and financial crimes.”
He added that there is nothing that is wrong with Nigeria as a country that can never be corrected in Nigeria, admonishing Nigerians to cooperate with the agency’s determination and resolve to reduce corruption to its barest minimum in Nigeria.
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