Nigerians Hate Corruption But Defend Corrupt Leaders — EFCC Chair

The chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede, has expressed concern over the contradictory stance of Nigerians on corruption, stating that while citizens lament the scourge, they also rally behind corrupt leaders when they face prosecution.

Speaking in Abuja on Friday while receiving officials of the Centre for Crisis Communication (CCC), led by Major General Chris Olukolade (rtd), Olukoyede emphasised that corruption remained a major impediment to Nigeria’s development.

“Everybody is crying that Nigerians are corrupt, that the system is corrupt; that corruption is killing us and destroying our system,” he said.

He stressed the need for Nigerians to collectively see corruption as a common enemy, adding that public support is crucial to the EFCC’s success.

“When we investigate high-profile cases and arraign people in court, the same people will carry placards and be supporting corrupt leaders. It doesn’t show that we are serious about this fight. The fight is supposed to be a collaborative effort,” he added.

Olukoyede also spoke about his leadership approach, revealing that he has prioritized prevention over enforcement to curb corruption at its roots.

“Now we are laying more emphasis on prevention, which is a critical aspect of our mandate. We don’t have to always be waiting for money to be stolen before we start working in EFCC,” he stated.

To achieve this, he said the Commission established a new directorate, Fraud Risk Assessment and Control (FRAC), aimed at blocking financial leakages before funds can be siphoned.

“We have access to GIFMIS (Government Integrated Financial Management Information System). We want to track and see where every released fund is going. We want to ensure that every capital project is executed. With prevention, we discovered that there will be less to enforce,” he explained.

Despite this shift in focus, the EFCC boss reassured Nigerians that enforcement remains a key mandate of the Commission.

“We are not dropping our mandate on enforcement. As a matter of fact, we are scaling it up. But we believe that it is important for us to prevent because it costs less to prevent than to react when the deed must have been done,” he said.

Olukoyede called for greater public collaboration in the fight against corruption, stressing that no single agency can win the battle alone.

“No single agency can do it alone. It is practically impossible for us as EFCC to fight all the battles. The society has a role to play; policy has a role to play, and the issue of citizens’ welfare has a role to play,” he stated.