The Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr. Ola Olukoyede, has identified corruption as the primary driver of insecurity in Nigeria, insisting that religion and ethnicity merely obscure the deeper problem.
Gatekeepers News reports that Olukoyede made the assertion while presenting a paper titled “Corruption, National Security and Economic Prosperity” at the Annual Lecture Series of the Nigeria Air Force Officers Mess Honourary Members’ Forum in Lagos.
Speaking through the EFCC Director of Public Affairs, Commander CE Wilson Uwujaren, the chairman said weak accountability in the management of public and private resources has allowed corruption to take deep root across the country.
While acknowledging that religious extremism, ethnic rivalries and agitations for self-determination are often blamed for insecurity, Olukoyede stressed that “the real elephant in the room is corruption.”
According to him, corruption fuels insecurity when funds earmarked for security operations are stolen, or when resources meant for poverty alleviation are diverted by members of the ruling elite. He singled out the abuse of security votes, describing them as opaque channels for siphoning public funds, and cited the prosecution of a former governor over the alleged diversion of more than ₦4 billion in security votes.
Olukoyede said the EFCC contributes to the fight against terrorism and violent extremism through non-kinetic strategies, including tracking illicit financial flows, monitoring designated non-financial institutions and Bureau De Change operators, and preventing money laundering.
He added that the Commission also monitors local and international non-governmental organisations operating in the North-East to ensure they are not used as fronts for subversive activities. According to him, the EFCC collaborates with sister agencies in the sub-region through the Network of Anti-Corruption Institutions in West Africa (NACIWA).
The EFCC chairman noted that the Commission’s asset recovery efforts have supported Nigeria’s economic recovery, with recovered funds channelled into social intervention programmes such as the students’ loan and consumer credit schemes.
He further said the EFCC has helped stabilise the economy by tackling currency racketeering, mutilation of the naira and illegal foreign exchange trading, measures he said have helped ease pressure on the national currency.
Olukoyede also disclosed that upon assuming office, the Commission adopted a policy of not shutting down businesses under investigation in order to protect jobs and livelihoods amid economic challenges.
In a statement issued on Monday by the EFCC Head of Media and Publicity, Dele Oyewale, the Chairman of NAFOM-HMF, Ikeja, Dr. Goke T. Akinrogun, commended Olukoyede for the lecture, while the Chief Host, Air Commodore Ewejide Akintunde, praised the organisers for sustaining the annual lecture forum.
