•EFCC chairman, Ola Olukoyede
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), yesterday, disclosed that more than 40 of its personnel have been dismissed in the past two and a half years.
The Commission revealed that they were sacked over their involvement in alleged corruption and financial malfeasance that could tarnish the image of the agency, reports Daily Trust.
The EFCC Chairman, Ola Olukoyede, who disclosed this in Abuja when he met with media executives and other journalists in Abuja, said more than five of them are currently facing prosecution.
According to him, the case files of others involved that are yet to face the wrath of the law were being prepared for prosecution.
He stressed that these were part of the efforts to ensure that personnel of the anti-graft agency maintained the highest standards of integrity while investigating and prosecuting corruption cases.
“In the past two and a half years or three years of my service, I have 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. You can follow those cases in court; they are public knowledge,” the anti-graft agency boss told journalists.
The EFCC chairman said the Commission had also introduced measures to strengthen accountability among its personnel, including a gift policy designed to regulate the acceptance and declaration of gifts by staff.
According to him, personnel would be required to declare assets valued above a specified threshold, including gifts received from relatives abroad.
He said the Commission would determine the categories and value of gifts that its personnel could accept, stressing that the policy was aimed at ensuring that staff could account for their means of livelihood and standard of living.
Olukoyede warned that EFCC personnel could not effectively fight corruption while engaging in corrupt practices themselves.
He also disclosed that the commission had renamed its former Department of Internal Affairs as the Department of Ethics and Integrity, as part of efforts to strengthen internal accountability.
Olukoyede said the commission’s anti-corruption activities had also contributed significantly to revenue mobilisation, with federal and state tax recoveries amounting to approximately N288.1 billion during the period under review.
He said the figure comprised about N173.2 billion in federal tax recoveries and N114.9 billion attributed to state internal revenue services.
“This is fiscal value recovered through enforcement of existing obligations, not through the imposition of new taxes,” he said.
The EFCC chairman further disclosed that approximately N257.2 billion in naira recoveries were recorded for federal ministries, departments and agencies.
‘N1.23 trillion recovered in 3 years’
Olukoyede said the commission recovered N1.23tn, $684.48m, £373,905.78 and €9.34m between October 1, 2023, and June 30, 2026.
He explained that about N397.26 billion, representing 33 per cent of the naira recoveries, constituted direct recoveries for the federal government, while N836.34 billion, or 67 per cent, represented indirect recoveries made on behalf of ministries, departments and agencies, state revenue services, companies, individuals and foreign victims.
On the utilisation of recovered funds, Olukoyede said N661.32 billion and $492.37 million had been released to beneficiaries during the period.
He said the naira releases included about N325.35 billion paid directly to individuals and corporate bodies, while N335.97 billion was released to various MDAs, the Nigerian Revenue Service and state internal revenue services, among other beneficiaries.
