Political parties urged to relax financial pressure on candidates

Representatives of religious organisations in the country have called on political parties to reduce financial pressure mounted on candidates seeking candidacy of the parties.
They said that would go a long way in combating corruption and money laundering in the Nigeria.
A total of 45 representatives of various religious organisations recommended that there should also be constitutional provision for independent candidature to check corruption of dominant political parties, saying corruption was a fundamental sin.
In a communiqué issued at the end of a two-day national sensitisation seminar for religious leaders and institutions on implementing anti-money laundering and combating financing of terrorism, which was  held at Bafra Hotel,  Kaduna,  the religious leaders agreed to be united and to preach piety and shun materialism.
The participants observed that corruption was rife in most West African countries because institutions were weak and civil society lacked the ability to hold government to account.
At the seminar, the religious leaders agreed to form a committee that will assist members at the grassroots in sensitization and compliance with the laws against money laundering.
They urged the legislative arm of government to amend existing laws and make provisions for punishments commensurate to offence.

POSTED BY:OPUOMONI PRIYE
DATE:04/26/2017