INEC to track campaign finance, inaugurates monitoring group

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said it was determined to track campaign finance of political parties.

One of its national commissioners, Professor  Anthonia Okosi – Simbina made the declaration during the inauguration of the Inter-agency campaign finance monitoring Group on Monday in Abuja.

To achieve this objective, it has since engaged the services of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Financial Investigation Unit (FIU).

According to the Commission, it would also partner with the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), Nigeria Communication Commission (NCC) Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) and four other organisations in tracking the campaign finances.

Professor Okosi – Simbina said INEC would walk its talk by unveiling its report of the 2019 campaign finances immediately after the election.

“We will check newspapers advertisements,  TV, Radio, billboard and we must see to the conclusion. Those who spent beyond what the legal framework provided for or spent outrageously will have themselves to blame.’

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“Vote buying must be monitored too. And those reports must be published after the election. Unlike what happened in the past, 6 months will be late for the report. We will ensure compliance with  the electoral act.”

She said all the 10 groups engaged for the tracking of the campaign finances will be working with the electoral finance and party monitoring department of INEC.

In his remarks, Assistant Director, Campaign Finance Tracking Unit, Ishaq Garba Aliyu, said they recorded milestone in the 2015 campaign finance tracking adding that they won’t leave chances in the 2019 election campaigns.

“We have built the capacity of the staff. They review the tracking forms to include separate forms for candidates and political parties. The tracking ends on the day of elections.”