The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede, expressed his astonishment on Tuesday at the extent of corruption in Nigeria, stating that the magnitude of stolen funds often leaves him wondering how the country manages to survive.
According to a statement by EFCC's Head of Media and Publicity, Dele Oyewale, Olukoyede made these remarks while receiving the management team of the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), led by its chairman, Mohammed Shehu.
"When I review some case files and see the enormous amounts of money stolen, I wonder how we are still surviving. Some case files are so shocking that they bring you to tears. The way unspent budget allocations are transferred to private accounts in commercial banks before midnight at the end of a budget cycle is astonishing. You have to question what kind of mentality drives us as Nigerians," Olukoyede said.
He highlighted that public corruption is the most significant cause of corruption in Nigeria and emphasized that eradicating it would greatly improve the country's standing compared to many others worldwide.
"It is unacceptable for someone to hold a public office or a position of trust for years and refuse to account for their actions," he said.
Olukoyede stressed the importance of embedding transparency and accountability in both the public and private sectors to foster optimal development in the country.
He pointed out that corruption poses a significant challenge to Nigeria but expressed confidence that the preventive measures under his leadership would keep the commission ahead of corrupt practices, ensuring good governance for Nigerians.
"The preventive framework for tackling corruption offers greater prospects for results and impact. To this end, the EFCC now has a Department of Fraud Risk and Assessment and Control," he said. "We need to examine our system of revenue generation, which currently allows for leakages in the mobilisation and appropriation of funds. Without addressing this system, we will continue to chase shadows. Our approach at the EFCC is to focus on policy review. If we can block these leakages and ensure even 50 percent of capital project execution in Nigeria, the country would greatly benefit."
RMAFC Chairman Mohammed Shehu commended the longstanding collaboration between his organisation and the EFCC and noted that the visit aimed to explore further areas of cooperation, particularly in recovering unremitted or lost government revenues.
"It is important to highlight that the collaboration between RMAFC and EFCC is vital in addressing the challenges of unremitted revenue to the Federation Account. We call on the EFCC for more collaboration, not only in enforcement but also in intelligence gathering and data sharing regarding government revenue from any source," Shehu stated.
He also requested the EFCC's assistance in capacity building for RMAFC staff on revenue monitoring.
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