Nigeria: Procurement Fraud Accounts For Most Public Sector Corruption

The Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Ola Olukoyede, says procurement and contract fraud accounted for 90 per cent of Nigeria’s corruption and fraud issues.

Olukoyede further asserted that public sector corruption was the greatest problem in Africa’s most populous country.

According to a statement on Friday by the EFCC’s spokesman, Dele Oyewale, the anti-graft helmsman disclosed this during a meeting with a delegation of the management team of the Bureau of Public Procurement, BPP, led by its newly appointed Director General, Dr. Adebowale Adedokun, at the EFCC’s corporate headquarters.

“In the EFCC, we handle both private and public sector fraud. And when it comes to the public sector, which is one of our major problems in Nigeria, we discovered that contract and procurement fraud takes more than 90 percent of the volume of public sector fraud. And if you look at it, they range from commingling, contract splitting, and all forms of shenanigans all over the place.

“Infrastructure-wise and all other developmental problems are attributable to contract and procurement fraud. It lies with you and with me to make a change. If we can work together, we will be able to leave this country better than we met it,” he said.

The EFCC Chair also stressed the need for enhanced collaboration between the EFCC and the BPP in several aspects, especially in project implementation and monitoring.

“So, I like your commitment, the new spirit you have brought into the agency. We are going to work together. We are going to collaborate for the sake of this country and for us to ensure that the 2025 budget is well implemented and executed. There is no hiding place for BPP. And there is no hiding from the EFCC. That’s the truth”.