EFCC Chairman Ola Olukoyede has raised fresh concerns over corruption in Nigeria, saying the commission receives more than 20,000 petitions involving alleged public corruption every year.
Olukoyede spoke on Thursday in Abuja at an event organised to mark the 80th birthday of former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Kanu Agabi.
According to the EFCC chairman, the number and nature of corruption petitions received by the commission show the scale of concerns surrounding the management of public resources.
“I receive over 20,000 petitions in a year in respect to public corruption, all terrible. What is going on? Like every minute, public officers take money, and if you go through some of our case files you will weep,” Olukoyede said.
He said Nigerians were affected by the alleged diversion of public resources and called for collective efforts to reject corrupt practices.
Olukoyede also spoke about cases involving public servants whose financial positions allegedly changed significantly after taking office.
He said some officials entered public service with less than N100,000 in their bank accounts but, after three or four years in office, investigators were able to trace millions of dollars and naira to them.
“Somebody will spend three to four years as a public servant, but before he got to office he had less than N100 thousand in his account. By the time he’s leaving, we were able to trace several millions of dollars and naira to him,” he said.
The EFCC chairman further alleged that some public officials accumulated large numbers of properties while in office.
“Some build 50 something houses, sometimes 200 houses. There’s no way a nation will develop with those kind of people in power, no way,” he said.
Olukoyede said public servants should be able to account for their activities while in office, stressing the importance of transparency and accountability in public service.
ICPC chairman blames tolerance and weak systems
Also speaking at the event, the Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, Musa Adamu Aliyu, identified societal tolerance and weaknesses in existing systems as factors contributing to corruption.
“The major challenge of corruption in this country is that we tolerate the culture of corruption, that is why it is thriving. Secondly, we have systemic errors, our systems are weak,” Aliyu said.
The ICPC chairman called for integrity education to be introduced and strengthened in primary and secondary schools.
He also urged Nigerians to engage younger generations, particularly Generation Z and Generation Alpha, on the importance of honesty and integrity.
“We need to tell them that we want them to imbibe the culture of integrity,” Aliyu said.
The event brought together members of the judiciary and legal profession, public officials, civil society organisations, academics and other stakeholders to honour Agabi and discuss ethical conduct and anti-corruption measures in governance.
