ECONOMIC and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) officials have revealed that as much as N20trn ($100.47bn) was looted from Nigeria's treasury between independence in 1960 and 2005 by government officials.
In its latest report on the state of the Nigerian economy, the EFCC said that as of at the year 2000, $100bn had been stolen from Nigeria. It added that with an external debt of $33bn, paying off the nation’s external debt would have required only a fraction of the money stolen by the country’s leadership.
While quoting an earlier presentation by the chief of staff to the executive chairman of the commission, the EFCC's director of internal affairs Wakili Mohammed, said that with elections looming, the electorate should be vigilant and disallow people with shady backgrounds from getting into public office. Speaking at a one day sensitisation workshop for Women Civil Society Groups, Mr Mohammed urged women to be particularly careful of who they vote for.
Organised by the EFCC in conjunction with the African Centre for Media and Information Literacy, the workshop was hinged on how women’s organisations can aid the fight against corruption and economic and financial crimes. According to Mr Mohammed, that power to liberate Nigeria from deep-rooted corruption lies in the hands of women who know full well that corruption remains the bane of the nation’s development.
He added that it is responsible for lower levels of spending on education, healthcare and other social services that affect women and children. According to reports by the United Nations Development Fund for Women, women are more vulnerable to the impact of corruption than men.
Mr Mohammed said: "Women constitute a larger percentage of the poor as they take primary responsibility for child care which makes them more reliant on public services and this makes corruption in public service delivery have huge impact on women."
Hajia Aisha Larai Musa, the head of the EFCC's enlightenment and reorientation unit, said that the commission works in conjunction with the State Security Service, the Nigerian Army, the Civil Defence Corp and the Nigerian Immigration Service as crime cannot be handled by one parastatal alone. She stated that women's anti-corruption initiatives aimed at engaging them in the fight against corruption, financial and economic crimes are needed.
Dr Kemi Wale-Olaitan added:“Corruption is not all about men as sometimes women are forced to pay bribes to get what they want. Women are also involved in corruption especially behind the scenes as they get involved in the decision processes.
According to Mrs Betty Anyanwu-Akeredolu, the bad image of Nigeria abroad gave birth to EFCC and the most effective way to reduce crime was to increase people’s perceptions that the cost of offending would exceed its rewards. She added that no individual was a biological or sociological criminal but people deliberately commit crime.
