THE Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede, has raised the alarm over the scale of public corruption in Nigeria, saying some public officers take national resources “every minute”.
Olukoyede spoke on Thursday in Abuja at an event organised to mark the 80th birthday of former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Kanu Agabi.
News Point Nigeria reports that the EFCC chairman said the commission receives more than 20,000 petitions relating to public corruption every year, describing many of the cases as “terrible”.
“I receive over 20,000 petitions in a year in respect to public corruption, all terrible. What is going on? Like every minute, public officers take money, and if you go through some of our case files you will weep,” Olukoyede said.
He lamented the alleged abuse of national resources by some public officials, saying Nigerians were the ultimate victims of such fraudulent activities and must collectively reject practices that undermine the country.
“The way people take national resources, as Nigerians we’re victims of these fraudulent activities. And we must come together for once in our lifetime and say no to the activities of some of our leaders,” he said.
Olukoyede said some public servants assume office with less than N100,000 in their bank accounts but leave after three or four years with millions of dollars and naira traced to them.
According to him, some officials also accumulate massive property portfolios while in office, including cases where individuals allegedly build dozens or even hundreds of houses.
“Somebody will spend three to four years as a public servant, but before he got to office he had less than N100 thousand in his account. By the time he’s leaving, we were able to trace several millions of dollars and naira to him,” he said.
“Some build 50 something houses, sometimes 200 houses. There’s no way a nation will develop with those kind of people in power, no way.”
The EFCC chairman stressed the need for public servants to account for their stewardship, saying accountability and transparency must remain guiding principles in public service.
Also speaking at the event, the Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Musa Adamu Aliyu, identified societal tolerance of corruption and weak institutional systems as major factors sustaining the problem.
“The major challenge of corruption in this country is that we tolerate the culture of corruption, that is why it is thriving. Secondly, we have systemic errors, our systems are weak,” Aliyu said.
The ICPC chairman called for the introduction and strengthening of integrity education in primary and secondary schools, stressing the need to engage younger generations, particularly Generation Z and Generation Alpha, on the importance of integrity.
“We need to tell them that we want them to imbibe the culture of integrity,” he said.
The event was attended by members of the bench and bar, serving and former public office holders, civil society organisations, academics and other stakeholders.