You Don’t Beg People When It Comes To Fighting Corruption – Olukoyede

The Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede, has said that it is impossible to fight Corruption in Nigeria with kid gloves.

He stated this when the Chairman of the Code of Conduct Bureau, Dr. Abdullahi Usman Bello, paid him a courtesy visit at the Commission’s headquarters, Jabi, on Tuesday.

According to a statement issued by the Commission’s Head of Media and Publicity, Dele Oyewale, the EFCC boss resolved to work with the CCB in the fight against corruption, economic and financial crimes, stressing that every effort must be made by stakeholders to build strength against corruption.

Olukoyede, while stating that both agencies have related mandates, added that there is a need for them to strengthen their existing collaboration.

He said, “I don’t see it as a courtesy visit, I see it more for the need for us to strengthen our existing collaboration. It is important for all of us to note that the two agencies are mandate -aligned, we are set up to fight corruption and financial crimes in the land.

“One of the things that we have been talking about with respect to the functions of CCB is the ability to be able to do investigation and to really ensure that investigations and prosecution are pursued very rigorously.

“You don’t fight corruption with kid gloves in Nigeria, it will never work. You don’t plead with people. You don’t beg people; everybody knows that corruption is bad.

“Fighting corruption is what nobody wants to do but somebody has to do it. All of us desire to see a better Nigeria, but a better Nigeria will not just drop from the sky, we have to work for it.

“Foreigners will not come and do it for us, we have to deal with it by ourselves and we have what it takes to deal with it.”