Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede, has that for every N10 recovered by the anti-graft agency, more than N50 has been stolen.
The EFCC boss, who stated this on Wednesday after he was conferred with the “Man of Valour” Award by Global Peace Movement International, (GPMI), an international organisation with presence in 27 countries, added that for any N10 to be recovered, the Commission will need approximately N2.50k.
Spokesperson for the anti-graft Commission, Dele Oyewale, in an issued statement, said two other awards, ‘Winner’ and ‘Torchlight’ awards were presented to Olukoyede.
Speaking at the event, the EFCC boss noted lamanted on the scourge of corruption in the country, with the promise that he will not disappoint Nigerians or spare the corrupt.
To this end, Olukoyede restated the commitment of the Commission under his leadership to the pursuit of preventive frameworks to tackle corruption. “We decided to go by the way of prevention; and I set up a directorate of Fraud Risk Assessment and Control, (FRAC). With this Directorate, we are going into MDAs and monitor real time the implementation of Budgets. As money is being released, we will be tracking it”, he said.
The EFCC boss also acknowledged the political will of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to fight corruption, stressing that the President is not interfering in the works of the EFCC. He restated that no shade of economic and financial crime would go unaddressed under his leadership of the EFCC.
While touching on the negative impact of internet crimes, Olukoyede disclosed that several international companies had to shut down their Nigerian operations following massive theft of their finances through local wire fraud.
Presenting the awards to Olukoyede at the EFCC’s corporate headquarters in Abuja, the GPMI President, Dr. Mike Uyi, who came to the EFCC’s headquarters with a large delegation of local and international officials of the organisation, disclosed that the EFCC Chairman was unanimously chosen for the triple honour because of the new dawn his leadership has brought to the country’s anti-corruption fight.
Uyi explained that Olukoyede is one public official giving his all to Nigerians, standing in the gap and inspiring confidence within and outside the country.
Olukoyede dedicated the awards to the Commission, and expressed appreciation of the management and staff of the Commission to GPMI. He pointed out that everyone that identifies with the EFCC in its bid to tackle the menace of economic and financial crimes is a corruption fighter.
The EFCC boss charged Nigerians to fully embrace the fight against economic and financial crimes in the overall interests of the nation.
