The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has dismissed more than 40 staff members for corruption and financial malpractice over the past three years, chairman Ola Olukoyede has disclosed.
Olukoyede made the disclosure on Monday at the EFCC headquarters in Abuja during a briefing on the commission’s achievements under his leadership.
He said more than five of the dismissed personnel were already facing prosecution, while case files involving others were being prepared for prosecution.
“In the past two and a half years or three years of my service, I’ve asked them to dismiss over 40 staff on account of corruption and financial malpractice. More than five of them are being prosecuted at the moment,” Olukoyede said.
The EFCC chairman said the commission would not treat corruption within its ranks differently from offences committed by people it investigates.
“Because if that is what people do in other agencies and I arrest them, I investigate them, I prosecute them, why must I just dismiss you if you do it within our own system and I’m not prosecuting you?”
Olukoyede said some of the affected staff members were already being prosecuted, while files on others were being prepared for legal action.
“You can follow those cases in court; they are public knowledge,” he said.
EFCC Renames Internal Affairs Department
Olukoyede also disclosed that the commission had renamed its former Department of Internal Affairs as the Department of Ethics and Integrity.
He said the change was intended to reflect the EFCC’s commitment to what he described as “internal cleansing”.
The commission has also designed a gift policy for its personnel as part of measures to strengthen accountability within the agency.
Under the policy, staff members would be required to declare assets above a specified threshold, including gifts received from relatives abroad.
Olukoyede said the EFCC would determine the types of gifts personnel could accept, adding that the policy would help ensure officers could account for their means of livelihood and standard of living.
“You must be sure that your hands are clean. You can’t be fighting corruption when your hands are soiled with corrupt practices,” Olukoyede added.
