Ola Olukoyede, the chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has lamented over the humongous amount of money stolen in Nigeria.
The chairman of the EFCC expressed his views on the matter during a meeting with the management team of the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission.
His remarks were made known in a statement by the EFCC’s Head of Media and Publicity, Dele Oyewale, on Tuesday.
Olukoyede also decried the manner in which unspent budget allocations are moved into private commercial bank accounts at midnight.
He said, “When I look at some case files and see the humongous amount of money stolen, I wonder how we are still surviving. If you see some case files, you will weep.
“The way they move unspent budget allocation to private accounts in commercial banks before midnight at the end of a budget circle, you will wonder what kind of spirit drives us as Nigerians.”
He also condemned the refusal of public office holders to give financial accounts after their tenure in office.
“A situation where somebody would hold a public office or position of trust for years and you call him to account and he says ‘no, he would not account’, is not acceptable,” he said.
“He insisted that the preventive framework for tackling corruption offers more prospects for results and impact. To this end, the EFCC now has a Department of Fraud Risk and Assessment and Control.”
The EFCC boss lamented that the system of revenue generation in the country is porous and gives room for corruption and embezzlement.
However, the chairman pointed out that such leakages in revenue generation in the country will be blocked by the commission.
“Let’s look at our system of revenue generation. It is a system that allows leakages in the mobilisation and appropriation of funds. If we don’t look at the system, we will continue to chase shadows.
“In this direction, we are not just going to investigate and recover; what we have decided to do in the EFCC is policy review. If we can block some of these leakages and have 50 percent of capital project execution in Nigeria, the country would be fine,” he added.
