The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has commenced monitoring of Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) releases to state and local governments as part of efforts to prevent the diversion of public funds.
EFCC Chairman, Ola Olukoyede, disclosed this on Thursday at the commissioning of the Commission’s new Zonal Directorate in Awka, Anambra State.
Olukoyede said the EFCC was shifting its approach from mainly investigating and recovering stolen funds to preventing the diversion of public resources before it occurs.
He said President Bola Tinubu had approved the monitoring of FAAC allocations to states and local governments, describing the initiative as part of the Commission’s expanded preventive strategy.
According to him, the EFCC established a Department of Fraud Risk Assessment and Control to identify vulnerabilities in the management of public funds and strengthen controls before resources are diverted.
He said the department had begun monitoring ministries, departments and agencies by examining financial releases and tracking the utilisation of public funds.
Olukoyede said the same approach was now being extended to funds allocated to states and local governments through FAAC.
The EFCC chairman explained that the intervention was aimed at identifying weaknesses in financial management systems and addressing them before public resources could be misappropriated.
He noted that recovering stolen funds was costly and often incomplete, adding that the Commission’s experience showed that it might recover only about 60 percent of funds lost, while the recovery process could consume between 20 and 25 percent of the amount eventually recovered.
Olukoyede said the new preventive approach would therefore enable the EFCC to intervene earlier and reduce the loss of public resources.
