The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede, has raised concerns over the alleged continued diversion of public funds by some government officials.
Naija News reports that Olukoyede made the remarks on Thursday in Abuja at an event organised to celebrate the 80th birthday of Kanu Agabi, a former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice.
The EFCC chairman disclosed that the commission receives more than 20,000 petitions relating to alleged public corruption every year, describing the volume and nature of the cases as disturbing.
According to Olukoyede, some public officials allegedly divert government resources while in office, with some investigations involving substantial sums of money and numerous properties.
He said EFCC investigations had uncovered cases involving individuals who entered public service with relatively small amounts in their bank accounts but were later linked to millions of dollars and naira after spending only a few years in office.
Olukoyede said:
“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.
“The way people take national resources, as Nigerians we’re victims of these fraudulent activities. And we must come together for once in our lifetime and say no to the activities of some of our leaders.
“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.
“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.
“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.
“We need to tell them that we want them to imbibe the culture of integrity.”
Olukoyede stressed that tackling corruption requires collective action and stronger institutional systems, arguing that weaknesses within existing structures have contributed to the persistence of corrupt practices.
The EFCC chairman also called for a stronger culture of integrity among public officials, urging Nigerians to reject practices that undermine the management of public resources.
His comments come amid continued concerns over the management of public funds and the efforts of anti-corruption agencies to investigate and prosecute alleged financial crimes in Nigeria.