The newly appointed chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede, has revealed that Nigeria lost N2.9trillion to contract and procurement fraud between 2018 and 2020.
Olukoyede made the revelation while fielding questions from Senators during his screening for confirmation of his nomination as EFCC chairman in the Senate Committee of the Whole on Wednesday.
He was subsequently confirmed by the apex legislative body at plenary.
Protesters had stormed the premises of the National Assembly, calling on the Senate not to confirm Olukoyede.
According to the protesters, who also submitted a protest letter to the Senate President Godswill Akpabio, they claimed that the newly appointed EFCC chairman was not qualified based on the law establishing EFCC.
The protesters held placards with various inscriptions like "Uphold the constitution Mr President," "CEDEHUR condemn the nomination of EFCC Chairman, Mr Ola Olukoyede," "We don't want the EFCC nominee," "He is not qualified, Oga Presido, do the right thing," and "The EFCC nominee must not be cleared."
Reading the letter, the National Secretary of CEDEHUR, Adebayo Lion Ogorry, said the action of President Bola Tinubu in nominating Mr Olukoyede into such a high office with enormous responsibility as the Chairman of the EFCC in fragrant breach of the provisions of the laws of the parliament was contrary to the oath he took on May 29, 2023 to protect and defend the laws of the nation.
But, speaking during this confirmation hearing in the Senate, the new EFCC chairman regretted that a whopping N2.9trillion stolen within three years would have been enough to build 1,000 kilometers of road, build close to 200 standard tertiary institutions, educate about 6,000 children from primary to tertiary levels at N16million per child.
The new EFCC boss, however, said that for corruption to be eliminated in the country, there must be a collective decision and collaborative actions by relevant agencies and individuals in positions of authority.
Olukoyede, who was confirmed alongside the new Secretary of the Commission, Muhammad Hassan Hammajoda, said that as EFCC Chairman, he could investigate even the President of the Senate if the need be.
He vowed to ensure accountability, transparency and preventive measures that would eliminate too many litigations in the process of fighting corruption in the country.
Olukoyede stressed that the EFCC under his watch would not hesitate to prosecute any Nigerian irrespective of their socio-political status, including the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio.
He called for collective responsibility, saying, "for Nigeria to earn a reputation for transparency and accountability, there must be a collective decision that indeed corruption must be eliminated.
"We must build international reputation in transparency, and as an agency I can investigate even the Senate President, because we must call a spade a spade, we must look at evil and call it evil no matter who is involved.
"We must look at more of the preventive measures than curative, corruption has become too rampant in our society and we will do our work diligently and with respect to the provisions of the Constitution."
He also explained that the Commission under his watch would avoid dublication of roles with the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) in other to save the country unecessary deployment of funds by the two anti-graft agencies for the same purpose.
He said that the time had come for all anti-corruption agencies to focus more on prevention than enforcement, adding that enforcement is a very strong tool in the hands that must be applied seriously.
Explaining further how corruption could be eliminated, the EFCC chairman noted that the savings of an average civil servant in Nigeria all through his service years could not build the type of houses they were building and cars they are riding.
He said: "The problem we have is just like the proverbial monkey that was locked up in a cage with a bunch of ripe banana. The owner stand outside with a cane. The monkey would either eat the bananas, got beaten and be alive, or allow the bananas to get rotten and die of hunger.
"Everyone wants to live a luxurious life and the incentives are all over the places. I will do more in the areas of blocking the leakages. We spend more money fighting corruption when we could have spent less to prevent it.
"Without downplaying the importance of enforcement. There is what we call the ransactional credit system. If we continue to allow Nigerians to buy houses, cars and other luxurious properties by cash, because we don't have an effective credit system, 1,000 anti-corruption agencies will not do us any good and that is the reality.
"We must create an atmosphere to make sure that people have choices. If I don't steal money, can I afford to train my children in school with good standard? If I don't steal money, can I buy a car after I have worked for five years? If I don't steal money, can I put three room bungalow in place after I had worked for 20 years? An average Nigerian does not own a home, when he has the opportunity, he would steal. Even if he did not have the opportunity, he would create one.
"In order to encourage our criminal justice system to work, the substance should be taken above technicalities. We must encourage our criminal justice system to adjudicate in such a way that it will not drag for a very long time. Prosecution should not be allowed to last for a maximum of five years from the Court of first instance to the Supreme Court.
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"The Senate can work on that very seriously. If we make the administration of criminal justice system really work, you will see the great work the anti-corruption agencies are doing."
Emphasising how deeply corruption had ravaged the nation, Olukoyede added: "I did a survey between 2018 and 2020 on 50 entities in Nigeria. Both human and corporate entities. I picked just one scheme, one specie of fraud, which is called contract and procurement fraud, I discovered that within the three years, Nigeria lost N2.9trillion.
"When I put my figures together, I discovered that If the country had prevented the money from being stolen, it would have given us 1,000 kilometers of road, it would have built close to 200 standard tertiary institutions. It would have also educated about 6,000 children from primary to tertiary levels at N16m per child.
"It would have also delivered more 20,000 units of three-bedroom houses across the country. It would have given us a world-class teaching hospitals in each of the 36 States of the country and the Federal Capital Territory. This is where we are coming from, this is where we are. Where we are going depends on the decision the Senate would take this afternoon."
