The executive chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Ola Olukoyede, has advised civil society organisations, CSOs, across the country not to allow themselves to be used as tools to engender corruption by dubious politicians.
A statement by EFCC spokesperson, Dele Oyewale on Wednesday, said Olukoyede gave the advice when he received the executives of the Conference of Northern States Civil Society Networks, led by its chairman, Ambassador Ibrahim Waiya, at the EFCC corporate headquarters, Abuja.
Olukoyede said it was appalling to see CSOs veer off their mandate, supporting bad governance.
He noted that there were instances where some state governments deliberately set up and funded CSOs to attack agencies mandated to enforce anti-corruption laws.
He also frowned at the tendencies of some CSOs to champion ill-motivated causes, and especially defend individuals and groups indicted for corruption, stressing that such tendencies impede the development and progress of the nation.
The EFCC boss added that it was important for actors in the civil society space to understand that their mandate required them to play very critical roles in the development of society.
“The CSOs are critical to the fight against economic and financial crimes. Some of the high-profile cases the commission has prosecuted were made possible by the efforts of some of the promoters of these CSOs. They are even playing the role of prosecution witnesses in support of anti-graft agencies. That is why, within six months of my appointment, I have met with the coalition of CSOs twice. For me, we cannot do it all alone. We surely need to collaborate to achieve the mandate,” he said.
The EFCC chairman also commended President Bola Tinubu for taking crucial measures on the issues of consumer credit and the Student Loan Scheme, which he said have a great propensity for curbing corruption.
“Fifty per cent of my job would have been done by the time these policies come on stream. Imagine workers getting car loans and mortgage loans at 3, 4 and 5 per cent to be repaid in the next 30 years. It will reduce corruption to the barest minimum,” he said.
Earlier, Waiya said the group brought together various civil society networks operating in the 19 northern states and FCT, under a common umbrella, with a clear focus on promoting synergy among different state-based networks, to collectively aid in achieving socio-economic, political, infrastructural and sustainable development in the region and Nigeria at large.
He specifically commended Olukoyede for his fight against naira abuse and the noticeable paradigm shift in the entire war against economic and financial crimes.
“We want to commend you for your bold moves in moving the anti-corruption fight forward,” he said.
He called for greater penetration of the grassroots to ensure that false narratives and campaigns against the commission are neutralised.