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He revealed that it was not good that the United States of
America made about $3bn from the FBI Haliburton probe while Nigeria made
nothing from the same probe that was kick-started by the EFCC.
He made these known on Monday during an interaction between
the EFCC and civil society organisations, held at the commission’s national
headquarters, Jabi, Abuja.
Olukoyede said, “About 80 percent of our ongoing major
investigations came from petitions from civil society groups. This means that
we have a very active civil society sector. Let us be focused, we will see the
light at the end of the tunnel.
“There are three areas of focus, and there is a need for us
to redirected our focus. Our job shouldn’t only be about arrests, detentions,
and prosecutions. I’ve told our operatives and staff, the focus shouldn’t be
about using the instrumentality of anti-corruption to stifle economic
development, rather our activities should help improve economic development.
“If all my conviction of people does not contribute to
economic development, how does it add value to the system? For example, the
United States government generated about $3bn from the Haliburton case which
was instituted here in Nigeria by the EFCC, but Nigeria did not benefit
anything from the Haliburton investigation.
“I told my staff and operatives, whenever you are
investigating, there is a need for us to use the instrumentality of the
anti-corruption fight as an instrument to generate employment resources. Not
totally closing down companies’ accounts while the investigation is ongoing.
Some accounts get closed for about 15 years. Over N1tn was lost in 2018,
because we PNDed over N1tn. When such companies are shut down, they cannot
assess funds and they sack workers, and the companies go down.
“We are changing that completely, we won’t shut down entire
businesses over ongoing investigations. However, when we discover companies
that were actually set up to destroy our economy, we will shut such down. But
for real companies undergoing investigation, we’ll let companies be allowed to
operate while focusing majorly on the actual funds being investigated.
“Henceforth, the style of marking properties will be changed
in a way that it will not be noticeable that the EFCC had marked them, as it
currently is, painting the properties from top to bottom. Our markings
henceforth will not be noticeable in order not to stigmatize such properties
and stifle economic activities. We would rather use the instrumentality of
anti-corruption to improve the economy.”