LAGOS, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA)-The Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Mr. Ola Olukoyede has said that ensuring the enforcement and compliance of existing laws is crucial for achieving significant outcomes in public policies.
Mr. Olukoyede said this on Wednesday in Abuja while receiving officials of BudgIT when they paid a courtesy visit in his office.
According to a press statement by the Head, Media and Publicity, Dele Oyewale, Olukoyede said public policies are designed for public good but without strict enforcement of relevant laws, the objectives of the policies may not be achieved.
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“I have found out that the difference between policy and impact are the issues of compliance and enforcement”, he said
While applauding BudgiT for its works in instilling transparency and accountability in public financing, the statement noted that the EFCC’s boss assured the organisation of robust collaboration and active engagement.
“The work you do and your reports are very critical as sources of intelligence and information to us. If I am going to collaborate with any organisation at all, it has to be BudgiT. We are on the side of enforcement and you are on the side of information gathering. We must have a meeting point where we work together. We will give you the teeth to bite or do the biting for you”, he said in the statement.
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Continuing, Olukoyede said that the EFCC under his leadership is prioritising the corruption prevention mandate of the Commission for its cost effectiveness.
He said the EFCC’s core area is investigation and prosecution but now he has introduced a third leg to it, which they call “Fraud Risk Prevention and Control. “You will see us doing much of that now,” he said.
According to the statement, the BudgIT’s Global Director, Oluseun Onigbinde had earlier commended Olukoyede on his strides since he assumed office as EFCC’s Chairman stressing that Civil Society Organisations, CSOs across the country are impressed with his record of service.
He described BudgIT as Nigeria’s leading budget research and analysis organisation as he pointed out that its focus requires active collaboration with the EFCC.
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“We cannot do this work without partnering with anti-corruption institutions, the media and the civil society, and fiscal monitoring institutions, so we constantly engage with institutions to support them,” he said.
He decried “abuse, waste, corruption, inefficiency when it comes to public resources,” maintaining that his organisation will continue to work on tracking budgets and projects across the country.
“The budget is a piece of paper with a lot of projects, if we don’t monitor and evaluate it, we will not get the kind of result you want,” he said.