The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede, has responded to public concerns regarding allegations of corruption within the agency.
In a recent interview with Channels Television on April 30, Olukoyede addressed claims that some EFCC operatives have been involved in unethical practices while carrying out their duties.
Speaking candidly on the matter, Olukoyede emphasized the importance of integrity in the fight against corruption.
“It is important for me and my comrades in the EFCC that if we are going to fight corruption, we must fight it from the position of integrity,” he stated.
The EFCC boss explained that upon taking leadership, he and his team took the initiative to examine disciplinary records and uncover any misconduct.
“We sank that into the minds of every operative in the EFCC, and we looked into records and the cases of those with pending disciplinary actions or infractions. We set up a disciplinary committee and found quite a number of them culpable,” Olukoyede said.
Following the review, 27 officials were reportedly dismissed for their involvement in misconduct.
“We reviewed it and agreed that those people should leave the system—and Nigerians knew that is exactly what we did,” he added.
“So far we have been able to weed out about 27 people that we have found their character not worthy of being part of this crusade”
Olukoyede further clarified that there were more cases still under investigation, with actions and sanctions expected to be taken.
Despite the ongoing reforms, Olukoyede made it clear that perfection cannot be expected from every staff member.
“I won’t sit here and say everybody has become a saint in the EFCC. That day will never come. People working in the EFCC are human beings and not spirits,” he said.
The EFCC Chairman also noted that instances of misconduct, overzealousness, or mistakes may still occur.
“There will be this propensity for people to misbehave, overzealousness and all that stuff.”
However, he reassured Nigerians that any such characters would be held accountable according to the agency’s processes and the law.
“The promise I have made to Nigerians is that as soon as we discover such characters, we will do something about them in line with our processes and the law.”
