From Sola Ojo, Abuja
Rising from a three-day Management Retreat, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has restated its commitment to enhanced professionalism and integrity in driving the nation’s fight against economic and financial crimes and other acts of corruption.
This resolve was made in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, on Saturday, March 15, by the top brass of the Commission, led by its Executive Chairman, Mr. Ola Olukoyede, at the end of a three-day Retreat for Directors of the EFCC.
Speaking on the theme of the Retreat, “EFCC: the Journey So Far, Ensuring Professionalism and Integrity,” Olukoyede pointed out that “professionalism and integrity are key to the future relevance and effectiveness of the EFCC.
“Integrity is a fragile commodity that we must carefully nurture, protect, and safeguard to guarantee the trust and respect of our various publics,” he said.
He promised that the EFCC’s workforce would turn out to be a critical mass of honest, highly motivated, and effective team.
The Head, Media and Publicity, EFCC, Dele Oyewale, said the Retreat provided an opportunity for a critical and no-holds-barred review of the activities of the EFCC in 2024. “Most striking in the previous year were milestones recorded in asset recovery, arrests, prosecutions, strategic redirection, and organisational re-engineering, leading to the establishment of new departments and restructuring of others.”
He continued, “In 2024, the Commission secured 4,111 convictions and hauled monetary recovery of over ₦365.4 billion. The EFCC’s boss appreciated the sacrifice, hard work, discipline, and commitment of staff of the Commission in making such achievements. He called for increased dedication to surpass the records of 2024 and greater commitment to the integrity of processes in the agency.
“Key Resource Persons made presentations at the Retreat. One of them, Professor Tonnie Iredia, spoke on ‘The Role of Personnel in Information Management and Public Perception of the EFCC,’ stressing that wrong perceptions of the work of the EFCC were coming out of deliberate distortion and outright cynicism about the strides and courageous work of the Commission. He applauded the ‘passion, integrity, and transparent leadership Olukoyede is offering the Commission’ and called for more involvement of Nigerians in the anti-graft fight.
“Another speaker, Mr. Femi Falana, SAN, went down memory lane about the evolution of the Commission and affirmed that ‘the Commission has come to stay.’ He commended Olukoyede and the entire staff of the Commission for being undaunted, resolute, and progressive in moving the anti-graft war forward, promising that challenges being posed by the judiciary would be looked into to ensure that the Commission fully delivers on its mandate of tackling corrupt practices across the country.
“Other highlights of the Retreat include driving digital transformation and innovation of processes and systems in the Commission through procurement of cutting-edge technology to aid the work of the EFCC, enhanced staff welfare, improving the brand equity of the Commission, and doing the right thing always for the nation and the entire world.
“Olukoyede is positive that, ‘in another six months, we will deliver a brand new EFCC in Nigeria,’” Oyewale added.