The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) have warned civil servants against circumventing procurement processes to enrich themselves.
The two anti-graft agencies gave the warning at a two-day integrity innovation lab conference for public servants organised by civil technology organisation, Accountability Lab Nigeria, in partnership with MacArthur Foundation and Ford Foundation in Abuja.
The two-day conference aimed to give the nation robust, solution-oriented conversations for public servants to enable them build the knowledge and equip themselves with tools to influence norms and change behaviors by promoting accountability, integrity and ethical leadership in their duties.
The anti-graft agencies referred the civil servants to several sections of their establishment Acts, and the punitive measures recommended for anyone found to have erred and corruptly enriched his or herself in the cause of procurement processes.
EFCC Chairman Ola Olukoyede, who was represented by an official of the agency, Dr. Johnson Eze, urged Nigerians to key into the fight against corruption.
The EFCC chairman highlighted several efforts the commission was making to tackle different windows of financial corruption, stressing that while a particular window was detected and closed, criminals created others, especially through the digital space to further perpetuate corrupt practices.
He said: “Very often, the person who is screaming at the rooftop, like a child, is the one stabbing somebody in school. We are expecting that one agency will be able to cure every malaise. But I tell you straight up: it is not possible.
“That is why, if there’s anything that I will, point blank, be saying today, it is hold your end. Then we probably will have a chance to fight corruption.”
Olukoyede debunked the belief that the EFCC was playing double standards in the fight against corruption.
