Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA) and other foreign Civil Society Organisations have applauded the Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Mr. Ola Olukoyede, for his consistency, focus and foresight in the fight against economic and financial crimes and other acts of corruption.
The commendations disclosed in a post on the ant craft agency’s official X handle on Tuesday.
The leader of the delegation and Chairman, Human and Environmental Development Agenda, HEDA, Olanrewaju Suraju expressed satisfaction with the doggedness of Olukoyede in tackling the menace of corruption, stating that his group was impressed with his “impressive management of the EFCC within a year”.
“We are happy that you have not allowed the organisation to lose its focus and its essence, and we are here to give you the necessary support you need from civil societies along with our international partners,” he said.
Suraju, who disclosed this in Abuja on Monday, September 2, 2024, when he led a delegation of CSOs in Nigeria and overseas to the Commission’s headquarters, appreciated and acknowledged Olukoyede’s resolve in the discharge of his duties, especially the recovery of proceeds of crime which the government expended on the students’ loan scheme and consumer credit system. This development, he said, reinforced the United Nation Convention’s policy on the fight against Corruption that stipulated that recovered loot should be utilized directly for the benefits of victims.
Also speaking, co-founder of Corner House in the United Kingdom, Nicholas Hildyard ranked the EFCC as a respectable anti-graft agency across the world. “I am so delighted to be back in Nigeria and the EFCC. The last time I visited the EFCC was around 2010, and of all the anti-corruption agencies that I have interacted with around the world, the EFCC is the one I respected the most because its determination to fight corruption has always been absolutely inspiring, and I am using this medium to thank the Chairman and his team for achieving this feat,” he said.
In other remarks, the Director of Recommon, an Italian civil society organisation, Antonio Tricarico and Simon Taylor, Co-founder of Global Witness also in the United Kingdom, applauded the good and quality management and leadership of Olukoyede and promised their organizations’ unalloyed support for the EFCC.
Responding, Olukoyede appreciated the CSOs for their visit and assured them of his undiluted focus and resoluteness in discharging the mandate of the Commission, especially in doing the right things, despite the daunting task of fighting corruption in Nigeria.
“I think we are more resolute to continue to do the right thing. If you try to bring us down you will not succeed because the truth will always prevail. So, we are not going to give up and be assured of our continued support and collaboration
“It takes someone with courage, someone that is reform- minded, someone who is ready to fight the devil to do the kind of work we are doing, because we are working against all odds”, he said.
Assuring the group that the problems in the extractive industry would always attract the attention and commitment of the EFCC, Olukoyede stressed that all stakeholders in the anti-corruption fight would be carried along to make Nigeria a better country.
“We are ready to collaborate with you and whatever we will do to ensure that the problems we are having, particularly in the extractive industry, are tackled, is acceptable to us, even as we keep fighting and they keep fighting back, we are very determined and resolute to do the right thing. What I advocate always is let us strive to do the right thing, whether your interest is political, pecuniary or whatever, let’s agree that the right thing must be done”.