The ruling party, the All Progressives Congress and the National Conscience Party have expressed support for the decision by the EFCC and INEC to eliminate vote buying and money sharing. In a telephone interviews with Punch on Saturday, the National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, said his party, more than any other, fully supported any legitimate move to curb corruption under any guise.
He stated, "It is a welcome development. We are a government that came to power on the strength of commitment to fight corruption. We welcome it as long as what the EFCC wants to do is within the ambit of the law and we are fully in support of such a move. "Speaking in a similar vein, the National Chairman of the NCP, Dr. Yunusa Tanko, said, "If it can be effectively and transparently done and not used by the government in power for a witch hunt, it's a beautiful idea.
"At least, we can be assured that people will vote according to their conscience by voting the right candidate into office and we will have fewer cases of people being induced with money to vote for the wrong people. "It will reduce the influence of money on our polity . We only hope and pray that the anti - graft agency will not hide under this guise to intimidate other political parties to pave the way for the ruling party. ”
Also, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mr. Emeka Ngige, has backed the plan by the EFCC to monitor political spending in the next electioneering cycle. Ngige told Punch on the telephone that the EFCC should work with other government agencies and use whistle blowers. He said, "It is a commendable step because money sharing has been the bane of our politics and has made good people to stay away from politics. "Our party conventions are like bazaars where votes go to the highest bidders.
"I will be happy if they can arrest the givers and receivers of money during conventions. They should shame them. "They should work with other agencies and they should use whistle blowers. I am fully in support of it".
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