‘We Have Sacked 40 Staff and Prosecuting 5 for Corruption’—EFCC Boss
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is tightening its noose around staff members suspected to have links to fraudulent activities.
Chairman of the Commission, Ola Olukoyede, announced that 40 of such persons have been sacked while others are facing active prosecution.
He also said investigations are ongoing and files are being prepared to charge others to court.
He was speaking on Monday while presenting a three-year scorecard of his performance.
According to him, strict action has to be taken to protect the integrity of the commission and ensure that those fighting corruption can themselves be free of accusations of corruption.
“I have asked them to dismiss over 40 staff on account of corruption and financial malpractice,” he said, adding, “More than five of them are being prosecuted at the moment.”
To further strengthen accountability, Olukoyede said internal mechanisms have been introduced to scrutinize gifts received by its personnel. Part of it is a mandatory declaration of assets or gifts that are above a certain threshold, whether given by friends, relatives, or family members. The policy, which is implemented by a newly introduced department named Ethics and Integrity, will determine what gift can be accepted by staff. The objective is to avoid officials being corrupted or compromised and to ensure that as public officials, staff of the commission are living within their means.
Prosecutions and Illicit Asset Recoveries
EFCC Reports N1.23 Trillion Recoveries, 10,872 Convictions by It, in Three-Year Crime Crackdown.
The EFCC boss also laid out successes in its investigations and prosecutions, saying it has yielded the recovery of over N1 trillion in assets and proceeds of crime in the last three years.
Within the same period, the commission, according to him, also secured over 10,000 convictions.
He noted that N397 billion stolen directly from the Federal Government and N836 billion stolen from the states and local governments, respectively, were also recovered.
These recoveries, he said, have significantly contributed to the revenue purse of the government, totaling about N288.1 billion.
