The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede, says policy reforms remain the most effective strategy for tackling corruption, economic and financial crimes in Nigeria, stressing that law enforcement should serve as a last line of intervention.
Olukoyede stated this during a courtesy visit by the Managing Director of the Nigerian Consumer Credit Corporation (CreditCorp), Uzoma Nwagba, and his management team to the EFCC headquarters in Abuja.
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He said sustainable anti-corruption efforts require systemic reforms that address the root causes of corruption rather than relying solely on prosecution.
According to him, the Consumer Credit Scheme introduced by the Federal Government is one of the administration’s most significant initiatives, noting that access to affordable credit reduces the pressure on public servants to engage in corrupt practices.
Olukoyede also linked the growing incidence of cybercrime among young Nigerians to poverty and limited access to education, describing the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFund) as a critical intervention in addressing the challenge.
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He disclosed that Nigeria lost more than 500 million dollars to cybercrime in 2022 and said the student loan scheme had already supported about 1.5 million students, reducing the number of young people vulnerable to financial crimes.
The EFCC Chairman further revealed that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had approved the release of ₦50 billion each from the EFCC’s Proceeds of Crime Account to CreditCorp and NELFund to expand their intervention programmes.
He urged CreditCorp to maintain transparency and ensure that the recovered public funds are used solely for the benefit of Nigerians, particularly public servants and civil servants.
Earlier, CreditCorp Managing Director Uzoma Nwagba thanked the EFCC for its support, revealing that the corporation has disbursed about ₦47 billion in consumer credit to more than 301,000 Nigerians over the past two years while maintaining a 100 per cent repayment rate with no non-performing loans.
He said the corporation is working with the Central Bank of Nigeria to strengthen the country’s credit infrastructure by linking borrowers’ records to their National Identification Number (NIN), a move aimed at improving credit assessment and expanding access to affordable loans.
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Nwagba added that CreditCorp is scaling up programmes targeting youths, women, pensioners and persons with disabilities as part of efforts to promote financial inclusion and stimulate economic growth.