NEWS AGENCY OF NIGERIA
Electricity power station

EFCC links frequent national grid collapse to corruption

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Mr Ola Olukoyede, the Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC),  has attributed the frequent collapse of national grid to activities of corrupt contractors.

The EFCC boss said this while receiving members of the House of Representatives Committee on Financial Crimes during an oversight visit to the commission’s headquarters in Abuja on Tuesday.

Olukoyede, who expressed concern that financial crimes and corruption undermined the nation’s development, added that dubious practice was a major cause of frequent equipment failures, outages and grid collapses.

According to him, one of the problems of this country in the last 15 years to 20 years is that budget performance is always below 20 per cent.

He said that some of the electricity companies bought substandard goods to run the electricity, and this had been responsible for the frequent collapses of the national grid.

He lamented poor implementation and execution of capital projects in the country, saying that Nigeria can not achieve infrastructural or any form of growth under such conditions.

“Investigations carried out by the EFCC showed that contractors in the power sector, who were awarded projects to supply electrical equipment, often opted for substandard materials.

“As I am talking to you now, we are grappling with electricity. If you see some of the investigations we are carrying out within the power sector, you will shed tears,” he said.

He also said that the commission discovered that in the last 20 years, capital project implementation and execution in the country were not up to 20 per cent.

“If we do not do that, how do you want to have infrastructural development? How do you want to grow as a nation?

“Our mandate this year is to work with the National Assembly to see if we can meet up to 50 per cent of our execution of our capital project for the year.

“If we do 50 per cent, we will be fine as a nation. Lack of implementation of this capital budget is one of our major problems in Nigeria,” he said.

The EFCC boss called for collective efforts and partnership with all stakeholders to win the battle against corruption in the country.

He emphasised the need for effective collaboration between the lawmakers and the commission in achieving the commission’s mandate of fighting corruption.

According to him, both the committee members and the EFCC are mandated to tackle the menace of financial crimes and corruption, with the goal of advancing the country.

“The mandate before you, which is also before us, if managed effectively and efficiently, will be remembered by Nigerians in the long term.

“This is one of the major challenges undermining our development in Nigeria. Tackling financial crimes and corruption effectively is a responsibility before you as well as the EFCC.

“It is therefore appropriate for us to work together,” Olukoyede said.

Earlier, the chairman of the committee, Hon. Ginger Onwusibe, lauded the achievement of the agency.

Onwusibe said that the committee was at the commission as part of its oversight functions, aimed at monitoring the performance of ministries, departments, and agencies.

He expressed the committee’s readiness to assist the EFCC through legislation and budget allocations.

He urged the commission to enhance its operational skills, ensure accountability, address challenges, and work closely with other agencies, donors, and development partners.(NAN)

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Edited by Kadiri Abdulrahman

Curbing corruption requires capacity, collaboration of all – EFCC Chairman

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By Sumaila Ogbaje

Chairman of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr Olanipekum Olukayode, has underscored the need for collaboration and capacity building of security agencies to tackle corruption.

Olukayode said this during the graduation of the Executive Leadership and Strategic Management Course, Batch 5/2024, of the Nigerian Army Resource Centre (NARC), on Friday in Abuja.

Represented by the Secretary to the Commission, Mr Mohammad Hamman-Joda, the EFCC boss emphasised the importance of training senior managers in security agencies as key to curbing corruption in the country.

He reiterated the commitment of the commission to continue to train to be ahead of the criminals, who are always trying to advance.
According to him, there are a lot of innovations in terms of crime, particularly crypto-currency.

“So, we have to up our game to catch them, if not, we will be left behind.
“We have trained a total of 100 participants from the EFCC, along with other participants from sister security agencies, Department of State Security, DSS, Defense Intelligence Agency, DIA and Nigerian Army amongst others,” he said.

Olukayode said that the training was conducted in five batches, with participants drawn from senior and middle cadres of the commission.

He expressed the hope that the knowledge gained would impact positively on operations of the EFCC while appreciating NARC for the wealth of experience they shared.

“We look forward to more collaboration in the future,” he said.

The EFCC boss expressed condolences to President Bola Tinubu, the Nigerian Army and Nigerians on the death of Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Taoreed Lagbaja.

The Director-General of NARC, retired Maj.-Gen. Garba Wahab, said the course was designed to bring participants from the security architecture together to understand themselves and the challenges ahead.

Wahab said the training would also enhance the level of collaboration and cooperation between the security agencies saddled with the responsibility of fighting corruption for better performance.

According to him, the solution to Nigeria’s problems lies with them, and the solutions must come from them.

“Joint training is the way forward, so that everybody will know their strengths and weaknesses and understand each other.

“Somewhere along the line, it is not possible for one agency to solve the security situation they are facing, not only in Nigeria, anywhere in the world.

“Above all, reach across boundaries and borders to make friends, socialise, network and that is one of the challenges it brings to the participants,” Wahab said. (NAN)

Edited by Ifeyinwa Okonkwo and Yakubu Uba

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