The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has uncovered what it calls mind-boggling fraud at the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited.
EFCC Chairman, Ola Olukoyede, made this known in Abuja during the third day of the National Conference on Public Accounts and Fiscal Governance. He said the findings came just three weeks after the commission began probing the oil and gas sector.
“What we have discovered is mind-boggling. And we have only just opened the books,” Olukoyede said. “If this is what we’re seeing at the surface, imagine what lies beneath.”
The EFCC also called on the National Assembly to pass a law that would criminalise unexplained wealth. Olukoyede said the country cannot win the fight against corruption unless public officials are forced to account for property and assets beyond their earnings.
“Help me pass the Unexplained Wealth Bill,” he said. “If we don’t hold individuals accountable for what they have, we’ll never get it right.”
He noted that investigations have been slowed by legal barriers which require the EFCC to prove a specific crime before it can seize property or file charges.
Olukoyede also revealed that the EFCC is tracking stolen assets in places as far as America, Turkey and even Iceland.
“Last month alone, I visited four or five countries chasing Nigeria’s stolen assets. An ambassador even told me they discovered an estate in Iceland owned by a Nigerian,” he said.
At the same event, ICPC Chairman, Dr Musa Aliyu, raised concerns over how some revenue-generating agencies treat public funds. Represented by Director of Finance, Michael Akporo, he said many of these agencies behave like the money belongs to them.
“Please, intensify oversight, so they’ll be held accountable and bring to the table whatever they collect,” he told lawmakers.
The ICPC also backed recent fiscal reforms by the Tinubu-led administration and expressed hope that new tax laws would help strengthen Nigeria’s financial system.
