The Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr. Ola Olukoyede, has expressed disgust over the persistent lack of transparency in Nigeria’s financial reporting, particularly in the oil and gas industry.
He warned that the continued opacity in the sector poses a major threat to national development and erodes public confidence in governance.
Olukoyede, who spoke through the agency’s Director of Public Affairs, Mr. Wilson Uwujaren, at the ongoing National Conference on Public Accounts and Fiscal Governance in Abuja on Tuesday, emphasized that speculative revenues, unverifiable transactions, and weak oversight mechanisms have entrenched corruption and inefficiency within public finance, especially in critical sectors like oil and gas.
He stated:“One of the most worrying vulnerabilities in our financial system is the opaque nature of earnings in the oil and gas sector. When revenue figures are speculative rather than accurate, it fosters corruption and diminishes public trust.”
He cited several fiscal leakages that continue to undermine Nigeria’s economic integrity.
According to him, these include habitual breaches of financial regulations, unauthorized expenditure beyond approved thresholds, diversion of government funds into private accounts, and the insertion of fictitious or non-impactful projects into national budgets.
He also mentionef the manipulation of key government digital platforms such as the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS) and the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS), which he said have been exploited to perpetrate payroll fraud in various Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs).
“Despite multiple reform initiatives, the disconnect between policy objectives and actual outcomes remains glaring. We must move beyond cosmetic reforms to real institutional accountability,” he stressed.
He explained that while investigation and prosecution remain at the heart of EFCC’s mandate, the agency is now placing equal emphasis on prevention.
He disclosed that in the past year and a half, the Commission has implemented critical reforms, including the establishment of a dedicated Fraud Risk Assessment and Control Department, which is tasked with identifying and closing fiscal loopholes in public institutions.
He added that the agency has also strengthened its partnerships with both domestic and international anti-corruption bodies to tackle illicit financial flows.
Speaking on asset recovery, Olukoyede announced that the Commission has returned trillions of naira to the national treasury, including proceeds from what he described as “the largest single real estate recovery in Nigeria’s history”, the seizure of 750 duplexes in Abuja.
He said recovered funds have been reinvested into strategic national programmes, including the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFund) and the Consumer Credit Scheme (CREDICORP). The EFCC is also collaborating with the Federal Ministry of Housing to repurpose confiscated properties as affordable housing units for low-income citizens.
Acknowledging these milestones, the anti-graft chief said the journey to full transparency is far from over. He advocated for the institutionalization of real-time digital systems for budget and project tracking, open access to government expenditure data, and a reinforced whistleblowing mechanism.
“To eliminate fraud in procurement and payroll, we must adopt full automation and encourage active citizen involvement. No system can function effectively without the right personnel. That is why we are recommending integrity tests for all public officials across MDAs,” Olukoyede said.
He emphasized that real progress in fiscal governance can only be achieved when all Nigerians, from top-level government officials to everyday citizens, actively demand and uphold accountability.
He punctured the lack of synergy between the National Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee and the Commission. He noted that despite the Committee’s extensive oversight role, the EFCC has not received a single report for investigation.
“Parliament cannot insist on accountability if it fails to demonstrate it. Transparency must be a standard across all branches of government. The legislature must ensure that budgetary processes are open and credible, and it must avoid actions that further erode public trust,” he said.
He advocated the need for stronger collaboration between the EFCC and the Public Accounts Committees of both legislative chambers, urging lawmakers to leverage the Commission’s enforcement authority to give real weight to their oversight work.
“To my knowledge, no report of the Committee’s oversight findings on MDAs has been referred to the EFCC. If we align our efforts, we can send a strong message that the Public Accounts Committee is not just performing routine functions, it has bite,” Olukoyede stated.
