The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)
N76.59bn as budget in 2024 -EFCC. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has proposed a budget of N76.59 billion for the fiscal year 2024.
The anti-corruption bureau stated that capital projects completed in 2023 were rolled over from 2022.
The commission’s chairman, Ola Olukoyede, said this on Tuesday during a meeting with the House Financial Crimes Committee to defend the EFCC’s budget estimates for 2024.
“The commission’s total budget proposal for 2024 is N76.59 billion,” Olukoyede stated. The estimated estimate of N76.59 billion for 2024 represents a 53.48 percent increase over the 2023 Appropriation of N49.91 billion. This rise is primarily due to an increase in staff costs from N36.83 billion in 2023 to N37.07 billion in 2024.
“We have personnel, overhead, and capital under budgetary heads.” In our proposal for 2024, we offered N37.07 billion versus a N37.07 billion envelope. In terms of human costs, we kept the amount we had in the envelope.
“The envelope was N4.79 billion under overhead, but we are requesting N14.51 billion from this committee to help us carry out our mandate.”
“Under our capital cost, we have a N1.24bn envelope that will do nothing for us.” As a result, we are recommending a capital cost of N25 billion,” he stated.
He based the demand for greater capital spending on the commission’s growth, saying, “Our operations keep expanding, and we also anticipate bringing in more staff in the year (2024) under review.”
The EFCC chief also stated that the commission’s overhead costs in 2024 will be N14.5 billion, up from N10.53 billion in 2023, while capital expenditure will be N25 billion, up from N2.5 billion in 2023.
“Quite a few of our zonal offices are rented apartments, and of course, when you’re doing this kind of work, it’s not practical to work in rented apartments.” We want to construct structures in each of the 14 zonal offices that we run outside of Abuja.
“The request for additional overhead is because of the high cost of air travel tickets, motor vehicles costs, diesel cost, building maintenance, operational vehicles, office equipment, acquisition of our properties and maintenance of our operations in other 14 zonal commands apart from Abuja,” he told reporters.
In his earlier remarks, the Committee’s Chairman, Ginger Onwucebe (LP, Abia State), stated that the Committee would help the government battle financial fraud.
“Our task is daunting, as financial crimes continue to evolve in sophistication and scale, posing a significant threat to our economy’s stability and growth.”
“The challenges we face necessitate not only vigilance, but also a strategic allocation of resources to enable the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit to effectively counteract illicit activities that jeopardize our economic well-being and our nation’s security.”
“The budget we are reviewing today is not merely a set of figures but a reflection of our dedication to creating an environment, where our citizens can trust the financial institutions that drive our economic engine for growth and development,” said the finance minister.
He also underlined the importance of investing in staff training to improve the capacity of EFCC personnel.
“By offering comprehensive training programs, we can provide our teams with the expertise required to navigate complex financial investigations and ensure a quick and effective response to illicit activities.”
“Let us unite in our commitment to safeguarding the economic prosperity of our nation, recognizing that our collaboration with NFIU is instrumental in achieving our common goal,” he stated. He went on to say, “Together, we can build a resilient financial system.”