In a bid to bolster its operational capacity, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has proposed a substantial increase in its 2024 budget, seeking approval for an allocation of N76 billion, a significant leap from the initial N43 billion proposed by the Budget Office.
The Chairman of the Commission, Ola Olukoyede, presented the budget synopsis to the House of Representatives Committee on Financial Crimes on Tuesday, laying out the rationale behind the requested increase.
According to documents obtained by Naija Update, the Budget Office initially earmarked N43.1 billion for the EFCC, allocating N37 billion for personnel costs, N4.7 billion for overhead, and N1.2 billion for capital projects.
Contrary to this, the EFCC’s proposed budget stands at N76.5 billion, featuring a capital component of N25 billion, overhead expenses at N14.5 billion, and personnel costs totaling N37 billion.
A detailed breakdown of the proposal includes a request for N2.6 billion for vehicle procurement in 2024 and an additional N1.7 billion earmarked for international travels.
However, during the final approval process, the Budget Office made substantial cuts, eliminating the N2.6 billion allocated for vehicles, as well as N11 billion slated for the construction of offices and N2.6 billion for security equipment.
Additionally, the proposed allocation for foreign trips was slashed to N563.2 million from the original N1.7 billion requested by the EFCC.
In justifying the need for the increased budget, Chairman Olukoyede emphasized the importance of adequate resources to fulfill the commission’s mandates without falling short of public and legislative expectations.
He expressed concern that any perceived shortcomings in their performance could lead to criticism from both the public and the lawmakers.
Mr. Olukoyede stated, “From the realistic point of view, what we think is, it will be good for us to work…because if we ‘manage’ to investigate and prosecute crime, you (lawmakers) will also ‘manage’ to abuse us that we are not working.”
He added, “So, we don’t want to receive such an attack (criticisms) from you, and we don’t want to ‘manage.’ That is why we increased it (capital expenditure) to N25 billion which we think will suffice for us to operate in the year 2024.”
Defending the proposed capital cost, he asserted that the N1.241 billion initially suggested by the budget office “will not do anything” for the agency.
Following the presentation, the committee entered into an executive session to deliberate on the EFCC’s budget proposal.
In a parallel session, the Director-General of the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), Modibbo Tukur, appeared before the committee to defend his agency’s budget.
Committee Chairman Ginger Onwusibe stated that the panel would carefully review the EFCC’s proposal and make appropriate recommendations.
However, Mr. Tukur insisted on the need for secrecy in their work and declined to provide details in the presence of the media, prompting the committee to move into a closed-door session.
