The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede, has expressed grave concerns over the extensive corruption plaguing Nigeria.
He highlighted the alarming scale of theft by corrupt individuals, noting that the magnitude of stolen funds often makes him wonder how the country continues to function.
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Olukoyede shared these thoughts during a meeting with the management team of the Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), led by its Chairman, Mohammed Shehu. The meeting was detailed in a statement released on Tuesday by the EFCC’s Head of Media and Publicity, Dele Oyewale.
“When I look at some case files and see the humongous amount of money stolen, I wonder how we are still surviving. If you see some case files, you will weep. The way they move unspent budget allocation to private accounts in commercial banks before midnight at the end of a budget circle, you will wonder what kind of spirit drives us as Nigerians,” Olukoyede remarked.
He emphasized that public corruption is the primary source of corruption in Nigeria, asserting that the nation would significantly improve if such corruption were eradicated. “A situation where somebody would hold a public office or position of trust for years and you call him to account and he says no, he would not account, is not acceptable,” he stated.
Olukoyede stressed the importance of embedding transparency and accountability in both the public and private sectors to foster the country’s development. He acknowledged the significant challenges posed by corruption but expressed confidence in the preventive measures his leadership has implemented.
“He insisted that the preventive framework of tackling corruption offers more prospects of results and impact. To this end, the EFCC now has a Department of Fraud Risk and Assessment and Control,” the statement read.
The EFCC Chairman also pointed out systemic flaws in revenue generation, emphasizing the need to address these issues to prevent financial leakages. “Let’s look at our system of revenue generation. It is a system that allows leakages in the mobilization and appropriation of funds.
“If we don’t look at the system, we will continue to chase shadows. In this direction, we are not just going to investigate and recover; what we have decided to do in the EFCC is policy review. If we can block some of these leakages and have 50 percent of capital project execution in Nigeria, the country would be fine,” he added.
In his response, Shehu praised the ongoing collaboration between the RMAFC and the EFCC, emphasizing the importance of their partnership in recovering unremitted or lost government revenues. He highlighted the need for increased cooperation in enforcement, intelligence gathering, and data sharing regarding government revenue from various sources.
“It is important to bring to the fore that the collaboration between RMAFC and EFCC is crucial in addressing the challenges of unremitted revenue to the Federation Account. On this note, we are calling on EFCC for more collaboration, not only in the area of enforcement but also intelligence gathering and data sharing as regards government revenue from any source,” Shehu said.
Shehu also called on the EFCC to assist the RMAFC in capacity building for its staff on revenue monitoring.
