President Bola Tinubu on Tuesday inaugurated the new zonal directorate office of the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti.
Tinubu, at the inauguration, charged the commission to sustain the anti-graft campaign, ‘which must be organised, sustained and supported by the right institutions, the right tools and the right working environment’.
The president, represented by Vice President Kashim Shettima, said investing in the capacity and welfare of officers of anti-corruption agencies, particularly the EFCC, was a strategic national importance.
According to him, the law enforcement agencies, which are critical to our collective safety, security, prosperity and general well-being, must have the necessary facilities to enhance their efficiency.
Tinubu expressed the government’s commitment to strengthening anti-corruption agencies through conducive working environments, competitive workplaces, repair packages, operational independence, and adequate training opportunities.
“I am confident that this facility will further motivate EFCC staff to rededicate themselves to combating economic and financial crimes which remain major obstacles for our nation’s progress.
“The commission acquires a central position in both our economic report and our national security.
“Its contributions to tackling cyber terrorism are evident in the dismantling of a foreign controlled cryptocurrency syndicate in Lagos resulting in the conviction of 192 foreigners in a single operation.
“The commission has made resources available for critical social investment programmes such as the students loan scheme and the consumer credit scheme.
“The EFCC’s recent prosecution of several high-profile corruption cases, including the conviction of a former minister and a former managing director of a national investment bank, sends a clear message that there are no hiding places for the corrupt.
“I encourage the EFCC and its sister agencies, the ICPC, to sustain the present tempo until corruption is reduced to the barest minimum in our national life,” he said.
Earlier, the Chairman of EFCC, Mr Ola Olukoyede, said the inauguration of the complex was a statutory responsibility in taking the crusade against corruption to the people of Ekiti and Ondo States, including the contiguous communities and towns.
“For many years, coverage of Ekiti and Ondo States by the commission was a little more than perfunctory owing to the overlap in responsibility by distant zones, which left gaps in our enforcement framework.
“The chink is now permanently covered with this modern office complex. With this investment, I want to pledge that fraudsters would have no hiding places in the zone,” he said.
Also, Gov. Biodun Oyebanji of Ekiti, said the office would enhance the administrative capacity of the commission and lessen the stress of those under investigation.
“Because of the distance involved, many of our people who have been victims of financial crimes have had to lick their wounds quietly because of having to make repeated trips to far distances to pursue justice.
“With the completion and commissioning of this complex, it is our hope that all of those challenges are now a thing of the past,” he said.
