From Noah Ocheni, Lokoja
The Executive Director of Connected Development Organisation, Comrade Hamzat Lawal, has vowed to use “Follow The Money Initiatives” to track political funding and halt the extravagance of politicians in the 2023 general elections
Comrade Lawal who is also the co-founder of the “Not Too Young To Run” expressed concern at news of inducement of delegates among the two major political parties in the ongoing primary elections in the country.
Lawal expressed concerns that the monetization of the process will leave other better candidates vulnerable as a result of their inability to pay delegates, thereby excluding potentially good candidates.
The Director pointed out that his organization has started tracking the source of funding of politicians across party lines, asking the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC to live up to its functions.
The social activist and anti money laundering crusader said “mind bugling resources were usually deployed by politicians to win power and this had been of concern because of criminals or people entering the political system using illegal or illicit money to buy power as it were.”
Lawal charged INEC, EFCC, ICPC and other CSOs to confront the trend as Nigeria moves into an election year 2023.
‘ The Follow The Money initiator’ asked government to give INEC the needed capacity to monitor the funding and hold political parties and their candidates accountable to ensure that they do not exceed what is legally defined as the acceptable limits.
He called for the consolidation of Nigeria’s democracy to enable it address issues of inclusive participation, setting parameters for operations, including that of a financial nature that ensures that a maximum number of interested candidates step forward without too much hindrance
2023: Group vows to track political campaign funding
