The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has dismissed more than 40 of its personnel over alleged corruption and financial malpractice in the past two and a half years.
The EFCC Chairman, Ola Olukoyede, disclosed this on Monday while speaking with media executives and journalists in Abuja.
Olukoyede said the affected personnel were dismissed for conduct capable of undermining the integrity and reputation of the anti-graft agency.
He added that more than five of the dismissed officers were currently facing prosecution, while case files involving others were being prepared for prosecution.
“In the past two and a half years or three years of my service, I have asked them to dismiss over 40 staff on account of corruption and financial malpractice,” Olukoyede said.
“More than five of them are being prosecuted at the moment. You can follow those cases in court; they are public knowledge.”
The EFCC chairman said the disciplinary measures were part of efforts to ensure that the commission’s personnel maintained high standards of integrity while investigating and prosecuting corruption cases.
He disclosed that the commission had also introduced measures to strengthen accountability among its staff, including a gift policy regulating the acceptance and declaration of gifts.
According to him, personnel would be required to declare assets above a specified threshold, including gifts received from relatives abroad.
He said the commission would determine the categories and value of gifts staff could accept, noting that the policy was intended to ensure that personnel could account for their means of livelihood and standard of living.
Olukoyede warned that EFCC personnel could not effectively fight corruption while engaging in corrupt practices themselves.
He also disclosed that the commission had renamed its former Department of Internal Affairs as the Department of Ethics and Integrity as part of efforts to strengthen internal accountability.
