The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede, has highlighted a concerning paradox in Nigeria’s fight against corruption.
Olukoyede stated that while Nigerians consistently condemn corruption, they often rally behind corrupt leaders when they face prosecution.
Speaking on Friday in Abuja during a meeting with officials of the Centre for Crisis Communication (CCC), led by Chris Olukolade, Olukoyede stressed that the nation’s development challenges could be overcome if every citizen recognized corruption as a collective enemy.
“People are quick to cry out that corruption is destroying the country, but when we take action—investigating and prosecuting corrupt leaders—many of the same people are seen supporting those leaders,” Olukoyede noted. “This contradiction undermines the fight against corruption.”
He pointed out that the battle against corruption requires collaboration from all sectors of society. “No single agency can fight corruption alone. The EFCC cannot do it all. The society, policy makers, and the welfare of citizens must all play a role in this effort.”
Olukoyede further emphasized the importance of public support and communication, highlighting that strategic partnerships, such as with the CCC, are key to raising awareness about the EFCC’s activities and the value of integrity.
Reflecting on his tenure, Olukoyede shared his focus on prevention, rather than solely relying on enforcement. He also credited intelligence gathering as a crucial factor in some of the EFCC’s most notable recent successes.
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The EFCC Chairman concluded by reiterating that the fight against corruption is a shared responsibility and must be pursued with unity and commitment.
“Now we are laying more emphasis on prevention which is a critical aspect of our mandate. We don’t have to always be waiting for money to be stolen before we start working in EFCC. To drive prevention, I established a new directorate called Fraud Risk Assessment and Control, FRAC and now we are doing more of blocking of the leakages.
“We have access to GIFMIS (government payment platform). We want to track and see where every money, released is going. We want to ensure that every capital project is executed. With prevention, we discovered that there will be less to enforce.
“We are not dropping our mandate on enforcement. As a matter of fact, we are scaling it up. But we believe that it is important for us to prevent because it costs less to prevent than to react when the deed must have been done. So that is one of our areas of focus as of now.”
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