The Senate on Wednesday confirmed Ola Olukoyede and Mr. Muhammad Hammajoda as Chairman and Secretary of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The confirmation of the two nominees followed their screening on the floor of the Red Chamber, about a week after they were appointed by President Bola Tinubu.
Checks revealed that President Tinubu on October 12, 2023 appointed Olukoyede and Hammajoda as chair and secretary to the commission respectively.
Making his presentation, Olukoyede said the time has come for all anti-corruption agencies to focus more on prevention than enforcement.
“Enforcement is a very strong tool in our hands and we are going to apply it very seriously.
“The savings of an average civil servant in Nigeria all through his service years cannot build the type of houses they are building and cars they are riding.
“The problem we have is just like the proverbial monkey that was locked up in a cage with a bunch of ripe bananas. The owner stood outside with a cane. The monkey would either eat the bananas get beaten and be alive, or allow the bananas to get rotten and die of hunger.
“Everyone wants to live a luxurious life and the incentives are all over the place. I will do more in the areas of blocking the leakages.”
He also said the nation must take proactive measures that would ensure that Nigerians live decent life which he noted would serve as a disincentive to corruption.
“We spend more money fighting corruption when we could have spent less to prevent it. Without downplaying the importance of enforcement. There is what we called a transactional credit system. If we continue to allow Nigerians to buy houses, cars and other luxurious properties by cash, because we don’t have an effective credit system, 1000 anti-corruption agencies will not do us any good and that is the reality.
“We must create an atmosphere to make sure that people have choices. If I don’t steal money, can I afford to train my children in school with good standard? If I don’t steal money, can I buy a car after I have worked for five years? If I don’t steal money, can I put a room bungalow in a place after I had worked for 20 years? An average Nigerian does not own a home, when he has the opportunity, he would steal. Even if he did not have the opportunity he would create one.”
The new EFCC chairman who sought for cooperation of the legislature for the success of the anti-graft agencies in the country said the encumbrances undermining the effectiveness of the justice system must be tackled frontally.
“In order to encourage our criminal justice system to work, the substance should be taken above technicalities. We must encourage our criminal justice system to adjudicate in such a way that it will not drag on for a very long time. Prosecution should not be allowed to last for a maximum of five years from the Court of First Instance to the Supreme Court. The Senate can work on that very seriously. If we make the administration of the criminal justice system really work, you will see the great work the anti-corruption agencies are doing.
“I did a survey between 2018 and 2020 on fifty entities in Nigeria. Both human and corporate entities.
“I picked just one scheme, one species of fraud, which is called contract and procurement fraud. I discovered that within the three years, Nigeria lost N2.9trn.
“When I put my figures together, I discovered that if the country had prevented the money from being stolen, it would have given us 1000 kilometers of road, it would have built close to 200 standard tertiary institutions. It would have also educated about 6,000 children from primary to tertiary levels at N16m per child.
“It would have also delivered more than 20,000 units of three-bedroom houses across the country. It would have given us a world-class teaching hospital in each of the 36 states of the country and the federal capital territory.
This is where we are coming from, this is where we are. Where we are going, depends on the decision the Senate would take this afternoon.”
The Senate also confirmed Hajiya Halima Shehu as the new National Coordinator, National Social Investment Programme Agency (NSIPA).
The new Chief Executive of the agency promised to promote transparency in the discharge of her functions.
She said:” We are going to be as transparent as possible in carrying out these programmes since we now have a framework that we are guided by, and we are going to adhere to it strictly.
“All the programmes are going to be under my disposition and coordination. We will make sure that there is seamless intervention and there is free and fair selection across the country.”
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