Ahead of the 2023 general elections, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has warned politicians against frivolous corruption petitions against opponents.
The ICPC Chairman, Prof. Bolaji Owasanoye gave the warning on Friday in Abuja while hosting the leadership of the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) at the Commission’s Headquarters, NAN reports.
Owasanoye said the ICPC will not work on politically motivated petitions.
“Usually when the season for competition comes, there is a spike in politically motivated petitions for a wild-goose chase.
“Some are brazen enough to tell you that “we should make sure to stop Mr A from contesting” and they will bring a petition forward.
“That is not our job and we will not get involved in those things. We pack those types of petitions aside basically.
“Even if there is an implication of merit within the complaint, we will say “go and compete first”. We are not going to be the ones to be used to give you a fair or unfair advantage.
“When the competition is over, we will decide on the merit or otherwise of what you have brought forward”.
He, however, explained that ICPC has an existing understanding with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on how to go about genuine electoral petitions when the need arises.
“We do have an understanding with INEC that in cases where contestants challenge each other in court and the decision says somebody forged a certificate, for example, INEC will send those things to us. We are prosecuting a few of them at the moment.
“Those are ways we will add value without compromising ourselves or exposing our officers to the compromise and desperation of politicians during the contest,” he said.
The ICPC boss challenged political parties to conduct a thorough check of their candidates in the interest of the nation, adding that the fortune of any nation depended on the type of leaders it gets.
