Vice President Yemi Osinbajo said on Tuesday that a cashless policy will prevent illicit election financing in Nigeria.
Osinbajo made this known in a short Twitter thread capturing his meeting with delegates of the European Union Election Observation Mission.
According to the Vice President, electoral offences are always seen from a political perspective. He said when people are prosecuted for an electoral offence, they assume it is because of the political party they belong to.
“Electoral offences are always seen through a political prism; people will assume that they are being prosecuted because they belong to one political party or the other,” Osinbajo said.
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However, Osinbajo posited that more attention should be paid to the monitoring of tribunals and their outcomes.
According to him, there have been discussions around the malfeasance of some judges and “those who are found guilty must be brought to the fore.”
The tweet reads in full:
When effectively operated, a cashless policy in Nigeria can help stem the surge of illicit election financing by making it possible to track funds.
Electoral offences are always seen through a political prism; people will assume that they are being prosecuted because they belong to one political party or the other.
There is the Electoral Offences Commission Bill currently at the National Assembly and we hope that it will begin a new regime of dealing with electoral offences.
Re the judicial system: more attention should be paid to the monitoring of tribunals and their outcomes. In the past, there have been discussions around the malfeasance of some judges. Those who are found guilty must be brought to the fore.
It was a pleasure to meet a delegation of the European Union Election Observation Mission led by Mr. Barry Andrews, the Chief Observer, who is also a member of the European Parliament.
