The Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission,
(EFCC), Mohammed Umar Abba, has called for the deepening of cooperation
among anti-corruption agencies in the country towards improved outcomes
in the fight against corruption.
Abba made the call on Wednesday in a webinar hosted by the Inter-Agency
Task Team of anti-corruption agencies in the country to mark this year’s
International Anti-Corruption Day.
Themed “United Against Corruption: “Recover with Integrity”, the EFCC
boss in his goodwill message at the occasion, 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
more 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, adding that the EFCC has prioritized
domestic cooperation “as an effective tool to 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 we seek
so that corruption is minimized in our lives” and emphasized the primacy
of technology in the effective prevention, investigation and prosecution
of corruption offences.
While noting that this year has been especially challenging and 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,”
Abba 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.