Poll Bribe Saga: INEC Sends 70 Staff Back To EFCC

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) yesterday declared
that 70 staff of the commission will be referred back to the Economic
and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over their alleged involvement in
the N23bn, 2015 electoral bribery scandal which has indicted 205 of its
staff so far.
INEC while disclosing that an additional 80 serving officials of the
commission were queried and interviewed over their alleged involvement
in the scandal, added that a former national commissioner and five
former Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) have been referred to the
Presidency and EFCC for further necessary action.
The commission further revealed that retired senior INEC officials used
an NGO, named, the West African Network of Election Observers (WANEO),
to bribe and attempt to influence the outcome of the 2015 general
elections.
National Commissioner and Member, Information and Voter Education
Committee, Mallam Mohammed Haruna, stated this at a press conference in
Abuja.
The commission had met yesterday to consider the report of its expanded
Appointment, Promotion and Disciplinary Committee on the EFCC Interim
Report on Bribery Corruption and Money Laundering Charges During the
2015 General Elections.
Late last year, INEC received an Interim Report from the EFCC, detailing
allegations against 202 serving and retired INEC officials and staff in
16 States of the Federation. The money was alleged to have been doled
out by former minister of petroleum, Diezani Alison-Madueke.
But speaking yesterday, Haruna declared that 205 serving INEC staff have
so far been placed on suspension from duties and on half salary,
pending the final determination of the cases they have with EFCC.
He further revealed that out of the N23bn alleged to have been doled out
for the election, staff of the commission got over N3bn spread across
16 states.
Haruna said “The Commission met today to consider the report of its
expanded Appointment, Promotion and Disciplinary Committee on the EFCC
Interim Report on Bribery Corruption and Money Laundering Charges During
the 2015 General Elections.
“In furtherance of its zero tolerance for corruption in the electoral
process, the Commission ordered a thorough investigation into the
allegations to establish the culpability or otherwise of those named in
the EFCC Report.
“The Committee’s work was thorough and painstaking, involving issuance
of queries to the 202 staff mentioned in the Report and interviewing
them individually in accordance with the principle of fair hearing and
in consonance with INEC Staff Conditions of Service. As a result of
initial findings of the Committee, an additional 80 serving officials of
the Commission, who were not named in the EFCC report but whose names
came up in the course of the investigation, were also queried and
interviewed,” he added.