The Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC) Mohammed Umar has called for the deepening of cooperation among anti-corruption agencies in Nigeria for improved outcomes in the fight against corruption.
Umar made the call through a webinar hosted by the Inter-Agency Task Team of anti-corruption agencies in the country to mark this year’s Anti-Corruption Day.
Themed “United Against Corruption: Recover with Integrity”, the EFCC boss noted that the continuous evolution of new economic and financial crimes and the insatiable appetite for corruption in both the private and public spheres call for unity of purpose and cooperation among the nation’s anti-graft agencies in the pursuit of the goals of the National Anti-Corruption Strategy.
“There is no gainsaying that the situation calls for us to unite with a common purpose, deepen our cooperation and recommit to implementing the broad goals of the of the National Anti-Corruption Strategy in our respective agencies,” he said.
He adding that “the EFCC has prioritized domestic cooperation “as an effective tool for winning the war against corruption and will continue to support any initiative that promotes collaboration.”
He called on anti-corruption agencies in the country to use this year’s occasion to review the country’s anti-corruption efforts, policies and laws towards charting a collective new course in the direction of a more effective and inclusive multi-stakeholders cooperation and actions on the anti-corruption war.
The EFCC boss further noted that anti-corruption agencies ought to leverage on each other’s strengths to create the desired result so that corruption is minimized and he further emphasized the primacy of technology in the effective prevention, investigation and prosecution of corruption offences.
While noting that this year has been challenging making the International Anti-Corruption Day different due to the effects of the COVID 19 global pandemic, Abba observed that the EFCC was able to ride the storms, achieving over 700 convictions.
“In spite of the covid-19 pandemic, the Commission was able to achieve a lot. You will recall that the Commission had to slow its activities but after the lockdown, it continued inviting suspects, investigating high profile cases and we recorded tremendous convictions.
“It is important to tell you that from January 2020 till date, the Commission recorded over 700 convictions and we are still counting,” Umar stated.
As part of the activities to mark this year’s International Anti-Corruption Day, the Inter-Agency Task Team (IATT) organized a poetry competition for 11 secondary schools in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), in which Akorede Sani from Battle Axe Academy came tops in the junior category, while Oluwatosin Ogbasanya from Glistin International Academy, emerged the winner in the senior category.
Suzan O
