Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has dismissed more than 40 staff members for corruption and financial malpractice in the past three years, its Chairman, Ola Olukoyede, has disclosed.
Gatekeepers News reports that Olukoyede spoke 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 affected staff members are currently being prosecuted.
“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.
He explained that staff members accused of corruption should face prosecution just as the EFCC prosecutes individuals from other agencies.
“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?” he asked.
Olukoyede said some of the affected personnel were already facing prosecution, while case files involving others were being prepared for prosecution.
“You can follow those cases in court; they are public knowledge,” he said.
The EFCC chairman also disclosed that the commission had renamed its former Department of Internal Affairs as the Department of Ethics and Integrity as part of what he described as efforts toward “internal cleansing.”
He further announced a new gift policy requiring staff to declare assets above a specified threshold, including gifts received from relatives abroad.
Olukoyede stressed the need for EFCC personnel to maintain high ethical standards, saying: “You must be sure that your hands are clean. You can’t be fighting corruption when your hands are soiled with corrupt practices.”
