In a recent development, Ola Olukoyede, the Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), has declared a shift in the commission's focus towards corruption prevention. This strategic move, he believes, will be more cost-effective.
The announcement was made in Nigeria's capital, Abuja, during a courtesy visit by officials from BudgIT, an organisation renowned for promoting transparency and accountability in public financing.
Olukoyede stated, "Our core area is investigation and prosecution but now I have introduced a third leg to it, which we call “Fraud Risk Prevention and Control. You will see us doing much of that now."
He expressed admiration for BudgIT's work and assured them of a robust collaboration and active engagement. "The work you do and your reports are very critical as sources of intelligence and information to us. If I am going to collaborate with any organization at all, it has to be BudgIT," he said.
He further explained the synergy between the two organisations, "We are on the side of enforcement and you are on the side of information gathering. We must have a meeting point where we work together. We will give you the teeth to bite or do the biting for you."
Earlier, BudgIT’s Global Director, Oluseun Onigbinde, had commended Olukoyede on his strides since he assumed office as EFCC’s Chairman, stressing that “Civil Society Organisations, CSOs across the country are impressed with your record of service”.
Onigbinde highlighted the need for BudgIT to actively collaborate with the EFCC. "We cannot do this work without partnering with anti-corruption institutions, the media and the civil society, and fiscal monitoring institutions, so we constantly engage with institutions to support them."
He lamented the "abuse, waste, corruption, inefficiency when it comes to public resources", and pledged that BudgIT will continue to work on tracking budgets and projects across the country. "The budget is a piece of paper with a lot of projects, if we don’t monitor and evaluate it, we will not get the kind of result you want", he said.