From Femi Mustapha, in Kaduna
Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Ola Olukoyede, has said that the war against corruption cannot be won through lip service, emotional outbursts, or mere mob campaigns.
Represented by Dr Benedict Ubi, the Acting Zonal Director EFCC Zonal Directorate Kaduna at the 2024 African Anti-corruption Day on Thursday, the EFCC boss said the world over, the issue of corruption has been a bane to both local and global development.
He said there can be no accurate statistical or quantitative evaluation of the havoc corruption wreaking on genuine efforts at development because of its pervasive and recurring nature. “Aside from terrorism, corruption ranks as the next deadliest affliction of humanity in every region of the world,” he added.
“Given the danger and threat to our existence which corruption represents, it is imperative that individuals, communities, corporate bodies, and indeed the whole world join hands together to tackle it frontally. One way of doing this is through the whistle-blowing initiative.
“The Whistle-Blowing Policy in Nigeria was launched on December 21, 2016, by the Federal Government through the Federal Ministry of Finance as an anti-corruption program that encourages people to voluntarily disclose information about fraud, bribery, looted government funds, financial misconduct, abuse or embezzlement of government assets and any other form of corruption or theft.
“The theme of the 2024 African Anti-Corruption Day is “Effective Whistleblowing for Corruption-Free Nigeria”. Whistleblowers are anti-corruption promoters. Through their efforts, anti-corruption agencies are alerted about environmental compromises that should be investigated. The alert can come through verbal and non-verbal corridors. At the EFCC, the Eagle Eye app is an established corruption reporting device that is generating intelligence the Commission can leverage on.
“I urge whistleblowers to key into this device. Mails can be sent, telephone calls can be made, and personal visits can be made to any EFCC Command across the country to expose acts of shadiness around us. We also assure every whistle-blower of protection. EFCC will never betray you!
