2019: Melaye, Awomolo, Okutepa task INEC on electoral campaign funding

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8 years ago

INEC

Ahead of the 2019 general elections, Senator Dino Melaye and some leading lights in the legal profession on Thursday asked the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), to put necessary mechanisms in place to curb excessive expenditure during polls in the country.

They spoke on the theme: “Anti-Corruption Project: Enforcement of Ceiling on Political Campaign Expenditure” at Prof Epiphany Azinge (SAN)’s colloquium in Abuja.

Senator Melaye who represents Kogi West Senatorial District at the Senate described Nigerian politicians and the electorates as “very greedy” in making the deployment of huge funds as basis for winning elections in the nation.

He declared that over the years, public funds that were appropriated for development projects were diverted to funding electoral campaigns.

Melaye criticised the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the non-monitoring of campaign expenditures since the return of democratic rule in 1999.

He charged the INEC to live up to its mandate of not only conducting polls, but monitoring the finances of political parties to guard against over spending during elections.

Speaking on the sub-theme of Limits to Political Campaign Expenditure, Chief Adegboyega Awomolo (SAN), submitted that INEC lacked the technical manpower to monitor and track the spending of huge funds by political parties and their candidates.

He advocated for the creation of a separate agency from the electoral umpire that would monitor campaign financing with a view to bringing violators of the Electoral Act to book.

On his part, Jibrin Okutepa (SAN) urged INEC to bring its weight to bare on political parties that breach the ceiling placed on campaign expenditure.

Earlier, the Chairman of the colloquium, Prof ABC Nwosu, lamented that the toxic influence of money on Nigeria’s electoral process, was hindering genuine Nigerians from participating in elections.

The conveners of the event, Prof Azinge and his Wife, Dr Valerie, pointed out that the forthcoming 2019 general elections should be a test case for curbing excessive spending during elections in Nigeria.