The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr. Ola Olukoyede, has emphasised the importance of prioritising corruption prevention as a key strategy in the fight against corruption.
He stressed that corruption prevention is not only an effective approach in combating corruption but also a cost-efficient one, which is why the EFCC has placed a high priority on this method.
Olukoyede made this statement during a visit from the National Orientation Agency (NOA) management team, led by Director General Mallam Lanre Issa Onilu, at EFCC headquarters in Abuja on September 4, 2024.
The EFCC boss emphasised that prevention is crucial, as enforcement alone has not effectively reduced corruption over the past 20 years. He highlighted the need for stronger policies and public awareness rather than solely focusing on prosecution, which often fails to fully recover stolen funds.
“Upon my assumption of office, I made it known to Nigerians that one of the key areas that we will pursue seriously and vigorously is the area of prevention. Everything in the anti-corruption fight is not about enforcement. There are policy issues that are involved. It is not all about throwing bombs and chasing people with armoured vehicles and machine guns. No, it has never worked and it will never work. We have been on the path of enforcement for 20 years now. Would anyone tell me that corruption is abating?
“The more you do, the more progress you make in the area of recovery, in the area of prosecution and conviction of people, the deeper the problem becomes. As you are facing one, people are inventing new areas and getting smarter by the day. And so, we have come to realise that there is actually nothing fundamentally wrong with our people, but that our values have been bastardised over the years and also the system that we run, so I made it known to Nigerians and the entire world that we will pursue the issue of prevention very seriously,” he said.
To enhance prevention, the EFCC has launched initiatives such as EFCC Radio (97.3 FM), a “Fraud Risk Assessment” handbook, and a new Directorate for Fraud Risk Assessment and Control. This Directorate monitors key areas like contract awards and procurement, which are known to be vulnerable to corruption. By addressing issues before they arise, the EFCC aims to minimise financial leakages and corruption in public projects.
“One of the key elements of prevention is public enlightenment for which we have commissioned EFCC Radio, 97.3 FM, produced “Fraud Risk Assessment Prevention for Ministries, Departments, and Agencies handbook and relaunched our Interfaith Manual. You don’t have to wait for the money to be stolen before you move in and that is exactly what we are doing. Pursuant to that, we have established a Directorate called Fraud Risk Assessment and Control. What we basically do with the new Directorate is that, we will go out and monitor processes and procedures, for example the award of contracts and procurement processes which we know constitute over 90 percent of public corruption and also see how we can prevent the money being released to carry out projects from being diverted.
“So that is what we are doing, and rather than wait for people to steal, when we know that the system is so porous; when we know that there are leakages everywhere. So the little that filters out, we will pursue that and enforce our powers. I tell you, for every N10 stolen, you hardly recover N5 no matter how effective you are. And without disparaging any arm of government, we all know how difficult it is to get a high-profile conviction in this country.
“When you juxtapose all these, you will discover that the best way to do this is to go by way of prevention. Yes, we are still going to enforce, we have that power, but we believe that prevention is worth doing,” Olukoyede said.
He stressed that while enforcement remains important, prevention is more effective in the long run.
Mallam Onilu, the NOA Director General, praised the EFCC’s efforts and highlighted the importance of public education in reducing corruption. He noted that many people engage in corrupt activities due to ignorance and commended the EFCC for its intervention in addressing the abuse of the Naira.
Onilu also recognised the calm, efficient approach Olukoyede has brought to the anti-corruption fight during his tenure.