The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) can now access the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS) to monitor government disbursements to the country's ministries, departments and agencies, anti-graft agency chairman Ola said. Olukoyede.
“This access will enable the EFCC to track all disbursements and ensure proper utilization,” Olukoyede said on Monday during an oversight visit by the Senate Anti-Corruption and Financial Crimes Committee to the commission’s headquarters.
“We now have a relationship with the Office of the Accountant General through which we will monitor disbursements to prevent funds from being stolen,” the EFCC boss told the Senate committee.
Olukoyede also intimated to the legislators that the EFCC would supervise the legislators' projects.
“There won't be any problem. We will monitor the allocation and I believe that you will also help us defend this cause,” he stated.
He also revealed that the EFCC is working on acquiring software to monitor and investigate the trading of cryptocurrencies and other virtual currencies in the country, noting that Nigeria has lost billions of dollars due to unlicensed cryptocurrency trading platforms.
“We are in talks with the SEC and the CBN. We have developed regulations and must prepare to monitor tax payments. The income that should come to the government, if we do our job properly, will be no less than $5 billion annually from the trading of some of these cryptocurrencies or virtual currencies.
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“We can't achieve that without software. Some of these traders do not have offices in Nigeria and we do not even understand what is going on. That is why we need the software to monitor every penny traded,” he said.
'EFCC will get higher budget allocation'
Speaking to journalists after the session, the Chairman of the Legislative Committee, Senator Udende Emmanuel, said the EFCC deserved greater budget allocation to be able to effectively perform its functions.
“When the EFCC Chairman tells you that they need software worth about N3.4 billion that addresses virtual and fraudulent cryptocurrency trading, then you will understand why they need more funding. What we will do is increase its funding through budgetary allocations,” Mr. Udende said.
He also added that the EFCC deserved a percentage of its recoveries to assist in its operations, just as the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) also got a certain percentage of its seizures.
Earlier, Olukoyede told the Senate committee that one of the agency's biggest challenges was adequate funding as the EFCC would need an increase of about 300 percent of its 2024 budget to carry out its functions effectively.
Meanwhile, citing the first EFCC investigation into military expenditure during the arms procurement scandal that rocked the Nigerian Army, Olukoyede noted that some of the insecurity issues facing the country today have been linked to corruption in the area of MDA expenses.
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“One of the critical issues contributing to our current problems is corruption. Some of the money allocated to certain infrastructure projects has been diverted or, when applied, we do not get value,” he said.
On endemic corruption in the extractive industry, Olukoyede said the EFCC had made arrests and would soon charge the suspects to court.
IPPIS
In 2019, the former President Muhammadu Buhari-led government mandated that all federal government workers be registered with the IPPIS by October 31 of the same year.
Buhari made the disclosure during the presentation of the 2020 budget proposal at the joint session of the National Assembly.
He said the move was part of the federal government's efforts aimed at managing personnel costs in line with its fight against corruption.
According to him, all government agencies must obtain permission and follow due process while embarking on any procurement exercise.
The Comptroller General of the Federation, in charge of supervising the management of the IPPIS and other federal financial initiatives, had also revealed that it has implemented an ICT Security Policy aimed at safeguarding its digital assets.
The office said the policy aligns with global best practices in cybersecurity, ensuring the continued protection of sensitive data within government systems.