December 09, (THEWILL) – The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), has warned countries, warehousing monies illegally moved out of Nigeria.
Chairman of the Commission, Ola Olukoyede, issued the warning on Saturday, in Abuja, during a Road Walk to mark the 2023 International Anti-Corruption Day.
Olukoyede said the countries warehousing monies, illegally moved out of Nigeria are more corrupt than Nigeria.
“We are sending a warning to country warehousing our loot. All the international community, we are going to come after you for our money.
“Those who are keeping Nigeria’s loot are more corrupt than Nigeria. When money is taken from Nigeria and kept abroad, they receive the money and seat on it are they not more corrupt?
“We will run after them and collect our money for Nigeria’s development”, he said.
Olukoyede said the new dispensation of the EFCC under his leadership, will prioritise prevention and discourage acts that leads to corrupt practices.
“We have three policy objectives. One is to refocus the corruption fight in Nigeria towards prevention of corrupt practices because prevention is always better than cure. We will promote genuine businesses, we will create financial discipline in our environment.
“We are going to block the loopholes, because when you encourage the opportunity. We won’t wait until money is stolen before running after it.
“If they intend to steal ten Naira and we are able to block seven Naira, then we will only be going after three Naira, which will make the work much easier for us to do. Those planning to steal Nigeria money, we are going to go after them.
“We are in an era of new budget and i can assure you that we have sent words to all our financial gatekeepers that we are going to work with them.
“Every kobo that is released, we will trace it. We will make sure that the monies are used to benefit Nigerians and not just a few people. Students will benefit, workers will benefit, old people will benefit, retirees will benefit, because it is a common wealth.
“There is no country that tolerate corruption and move forward. Some people do not believe that corruption is bad but we are here to tell them that corruption is bad. Some people believe that Nigeria is doomed but Nigeria is not doomed. We will fight corruption to a standstill”, he added.
The anti-graft agency called for support from the Judiciary, Executive and Legislators to move anti-graft fight forward.
Also speaking, a representative of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Uchenna Ekwe, Head Country operation NLC, urged the judiciary to wake up and support the EFCC, regretting that if the judiciary can keep a financial crime case for years, they are directly encouraging others to steal and making it impossible for the EFCC to work.
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