The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has successfully recovered more than N200 billion and achieved approximately 3,000 convictions within a year under the leadership of Ola Olukoyede.
It could be recalled that Ola Olukoyede was appointed as the chairman of the anti-corruption agency by President Bola Tinubu in October 2023.
Following this appointment, EFCC spokesman Wilson Uwujaren reported that the commission had made significant progress in combating corruption in the nation.
“In terms of recoveries and convictions, which are usually the attention of the media, he has also done a lot in terms of one year,” Uwujaren said on Monday’s edition of Channels Television’s breakfast show The Morning Brief.
“In terms of naira recovery, we have recovered over N200bn in one year of Ola Olukoyede’s administration. That is not to talk about the dollar and the euro components of the recoveries. The figures are actually humongous. In terms of the conviction returns, we have over 3,000 convictions in one year of his administration. That, for us, is interesting.”
The spokesperson for the EFCC stated that, notwithstanding these achievements, the commission prioritizes crime prevention over securing convictions.
He noted that most of the convictions pertain to cybercrime, with a significant proportion involving young individuals.
“But we are not emphasizing records of convictions per se because our focus, for now, is to prevent corruption.
“Of those conviction figures I have just given, 70 percent of those convictions pertain to cybercrime cases.
“The style of this leadership of the EFCC is that there is a major emphasis on the prevention of corruption,” he said.
To achieve this objective, he stated that the commission has implemented initiatives aimed at raising awareness among the youth nationwide regarding the risks associated with fraud, particularly cybercrime.
In addition to the issue of cybercrime affecting young individuals, Uwujaren highlighted that corruption within the public sector is also a significant area of concern.
“You will agree with me that the major source of corruption, especially in the public sector, largely pertains to contract and procurement processes, and the commission is determined to ensure that these practices are checked before they occur,” the agency’s spokesman added.
“The popular maxim is that prevention is better than cure and once you are able to prevent procurement fraud before they happen, we would be able to save a lot of resources for this country.”
