EFCC Receives 20,000 Public Corruption Petitions Yearly — Olukoyede

Nigeria’s corruption crisis is generating a staggering volume of complaints, with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) receiving more than 20,000 petitions over alleged public-sector corruption every year, EFCC Chairman Ola Olukoyede has revealed.

Olukoyede made the disclosure in Abuja at the 80th birthday celebration of former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Chief Kanu Agabi.

According to the EFCC chairman, the sheer number of petitions paints a troubling picture of how deeply corruption has penetrated the management of public resources.

“I receive over 20,000 petitions in a year in respect of public corruption, all terrible. What is going on?”

Olukoyede said some EFCC investigations have uncovered cases in which public officials allegedly accumulated substantial naira and dollar assets after assuming office, despite having relatively modest financial positions before entering government.

He cited cases where officials allegedly amassed millions of naira and dollars within just three or four years in public service.

In some instances, he said, investigations allegedly linked public servants to the ownership of dozens — and in some cases hundreds — of properties.

“Somebody will spend three to four years as a public servant, but before he got to office, he had less than N100,000 in his account. By the time he’s leaving, we were able to trace several millions of dollars and naira to him.”

Olukoyede warned that the alleged diversion of public resources should not be treated as a problem for law-enforcement agencies alone.

He said ordinary Nigerians ultimately pay the price when public funds are allegedly siphoned away, urging citizens to reject practices that undermine the nation's development.

The EFCC chairman also stressed that public officials must be prepared to explain how public resources entrusted to them were managed.

Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Musa Adamu Aliyu, pointed to two major factors sustaining corruption: a culture that tolerates corrupt practices and weak institutional systems.

“The major challenge of corruption in this country is that we tolerate the culture of corruption; that is why it is thriving. Secondly, we have systemic errors; our systems are weak.”

Aliyu called for integrity education to start from an early age, particularly in primary and secondary schools.

He also urged stakeholders to engage Generation Z and Generation Alpha, saying younger Nigerians should be deliberately taught the values of integrity, accountability and responsible citizenship.

For the anti-corruption agencies, the message was clear: tackling corruption will require more than investigations and prosecutions. It will also require stronger institutions, greater transparency and a change in the societal attitudes that allow corrupt practices to persist.