We’re making progress in anti corruption war — EFCC

ACTING Chairman of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu, on Thursday told the House of Representatives committee on financial crimes that the commission has made remarkable progress in the war against corruption.

The Commission’s boss in his presentation to the House Committee chaired by Hon Kayode Oladele showed that the commission recovered billions of naira and foreign currencies of different denominations.

The recovered money was proceeds of crime between January and December 2016, which include: N102,913,791,217.54;  $8,296,313.99;  GBP 29,155;  £12,475; 117,004 Canadian Dollar; 806.50 DIRHAM; 5,000 FRANCS and 2,000 RUPEE.

Magu who was before the Hon Kayode Oladele-headed House Committee on Financial Crimes, during the 2016 budget appraisal and 2017 budget defence, also confirmed the recovery of.

The EFCC boss informed the committee that the sum of  $9.750 million and £750,000 was recovered  from a residence in Kaduna stressing that N1.25 billion was also recovered from a public servant.
The commission secured 135 convictions, according the records, out of which 46 were from Lagos zone, 30 from Abuja zone, 22 from Port Harcourt zone, 19 from Kano zone, 15 from Enugu zone and three from Gombe zone.
In order to boost its fight against corruption the commission informed the House committee the need to increase the personnel cost from N7.127 billion to N9.692 billion to accommodate the 1,500 new recruits whose estimated emoluments is N2.565 billion.
He also asked for an increase in Capital allocation by N1.790 billion to accommodate additional cost of work on the New Head Office of the Commission amongst other requests.
Earlier, the chairman of the Committee, Hon Kayode Oladele, lauded the achievement of the anti-graft agency in its fight against corruption, saying, “For the first time in Nigeria’s history, anti-corruption searchlights have been beamed on the judiciary and the revelations have been mind- boggling. In addition, similar exercises in the arms procurement process by the Nigeria military have also led to several arrests.”

According to him, “Our collective efforts to unleash sustainable development in Nigeria through the rooting out of corruption will not produce the desired result if Nigeria is unable to transact in the international market place without let or hindrance.”