Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), on Tuesday, presented a budget of N76.586billion as its budget proposal for 2024 to the House of Representatives’ Committee on Financial Crimes.
Presenting the budget to the House of Representatives Committee on Financial Crimes, executive chairman of the EFCC, Ola Olukoyede stated that the 2024 proposed estimate of N76.486 billion represented a significant increase over 2023’s N49.901 billion budget owing to additional funds needed for overhead, personnel and capital costs.
He said the proposed budget represents a 53.48 per cent increase over and above the commission’s 2023 appropriation of N49.901billion .
He said in the budget estimate, a total sum of N37.074 billion was proposed as personnel cost, N14.513billion as overhead cost and N25 billion as capital cost.
Olukoyede said: “This increase is solely attributed to the increase in personnel cost from N36.834 billion to N37.074 billion in 2024. Under budgetary heads, we have the personnel, overhead and the capital. In our proposal for 2024, we have proposed N37.074 billion as against envelope of the same amount of N37.074 billion.
“So, we still maintained the amount we have in the envelope, in personnel cost. Under overhead, the envelope was N4.794 billion, but we are proposing to this committee to help us carry out our mandate, with the sum of N14.513 billion.
“Under our capital cost, we have an envelope of N1.241 billion, which will not do anything for us. Against that, we are proposing N25 billion as our capital cost. Of course, our operations keep expanding and we also envisaged that we are going to bring in more staff in the year under review.”
Speaking, the chairman of the Committee Hon. Ginger Obinna said financial crimes remained a significant threat to the nation’s economic stability and progress, stressing that the panel is duty bound to tackle the challenge through legislative interventions to EFCC.
He said, “As we convene for this pivotal budget hearing, it is my honor to address the critical importance of our role in defending our financial landscape, in collaboration with the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit, (NFIU).
“Our task is formidable, as Financial Crime continues to evolve in sophistication and scale, posing a significant threat to the stability and growth of our economy.”
