The chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Olanipekun Olukoyede, has stressed the need for community involvement in tackling corruption, particularly in monitoring constituency projects.
Daily News 24 reports that Mr Olanipekun made this remark on Wednesday during a statewide consultative meeting with the theme “Fostering Transparency, Accountability, and Citizen Participation in the Fight Against Corruption in Nigeria”.
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The event was organized by the Resource Centre for Human Rights and Civic Education (CHRICED) with support from MacArthur Foundation in Kano.
The meeting was aimed at fostering transparency, accountability, and citizen participation in Nigeria’s anti-corruption efforts.
Speaking at the event, Mr Olanipekun highlighted that corruption cannot be combated solely by security agencies.
“Corruption cannot be won by security outfits alone; we must recognize that true and lasting change comes when communities are empowered to hold their leaders accountable, particularly in the monitoring of constituency projects,” he said.
The EFCC chairman disclosed that for the past 20 years, the agency had primarily focused on arrests after crimes had been committed.
However, he said the commission has now shifted its approach to include crime prevention through risk assessment and control.
“We have established a Fraud Risk Assessment and Control Directorate across ministries, agencies, and departments to prevent crimes before they occur, rather than just making arrests after the act,” he added.
He called for greater community engagement, transparency in project funding and execution, and the training of civil society groups to ensure they have the necessary skills to identify and report corrupt practices.
“Civil society groups should come together, and we will provide them with our expertise and introduce solutions to identify corruption in constituency projects,” the anti-graft boss noted.
In her remarks, Zuwaira Umar Muhammad, the Programs Officer of CHRICED, explained that the event was necessary because many citizens are unaware of the corruption hidden in constituency projects.
“We found out that citizens are unaware of the corruption that is covered in constituency projects. We brought in stakeholders to discuss this and how citizens can report their findings of corruption,” she said.
On her part, Dr. Hafsat Yahaya, from the Department of Public Administration at Bayero University, Kano, praised CHRICED and the MacArthur Foundation for initiating the event aimed at educating citizens on their role in the fight against corruption.
She emphasized the importance of involving citizens in every stage of constituency projects.
“Their involvement helps in the formulation, implementation, and evaluation of programs initiated on their behalf. Their absence will create a vacuum in ensuring accountability and transparency,” Yahaya explained.
