The Electoral College, Nigeria has called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to intensify its constitutional responsibility of monitoring political parties’ expenditure.
A statement by the Executive Director of the college Mr Kunle Lawal Wednesday in Abuja, advocated for the involvement of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in the monitoring responsibility.
He said that the involvement of the EFCC was to ensure that violators of the required limit were made to face the full wrath of the law.
“Every political party has a limit of expenditure for campaigns and leaving the responsibility for INEC alone will not yield the expected results.
“I think political parties will make adjustment if EFCC is involved in the exercise because violation of the limit is a financial crime and can be traced by the EFCC,” he said.
He commended INEC for the improvement recorded in the conduct of the 2019 general elections, but noted that the responsibilities saddled on the commission was cumbersome in view of quick deadlines and late budgets.
The executive director added that the numerous issues facing the commission had made its activities more complicated and called on the commission to automate the various electoral processes before 2023 elections.
“This will enhance the operational effectiveness and efficiency of the commission especially, in the area of collation of results.
“INEC should adopt an E-registration and voting platform that could be done six months or one year ahead of elections.
“This is possible when the system is properly automated and a secondary check on the registration is done via a valid Bank Verification Number (BVN),’’he said.
Lawal said that Nigerians in Diaspora who contributed to the nation’s economy should also be made to register and vote in every election.
He called for strategic partnerships between INEC and relevant Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) to educate citizens and receive real-time feedback on its operations.
He urged INEC to encourage total alliances by political parties that were unable to secure political offices by placing a time frame and reviewing of the process of registration. (NAN)
