Recent reports that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had recovered the total sum of N1 trillion in cash and assets in 2024 indicate the huge magnitude of corruption in the country. This huge recovery, which by all accounts is unprecedented since the establishment of the agency in 2003, shows the deep-seated nature of corrupt practises and their negative impact in our governance system.

As reported in the Guardian newspaper, this sum is more than the combined budgets of Yobe, Ebonyi, Nasarawa, Gombe and Ekiti states.

According to the same paper, “At the current minimum wage of N70,000 this recovered loot will conveniently pay about 1.2 million civil servants for 12 full months, and 25 million Nigerians or families will benefit from that sum if used to purchase the federal government’s subsidised rice at N40,000 per 50 kg bag as part of efforts to reduce the biting hardship caused by the current administration’s economic policies.’’

For making this massive recovery in its mandate to rid Nigeria of corruption and its related activities, the EFCC deserves our commendation. It is certainly an indication that the EFCC, along with other anti-corruption agencies, are making steady progress in this regard.

Indeed, in the most recent report by Transparency International, the global corruption watchdog, Nigeria ranked 26 out of 100 in 2024, which is a slight progression from the 25 the country scored in 2023. Overall, this favourably notches Nigeria’s global ranking on corruption from 145th to 140th among 180 countries in the world.

Yet, for all this progress, germane issues on the cankerworm that corruption has become in the Nigerian system, still remain embedded. For one, from the EFCC report, the vast sums forfeited to the federal government were from highly-placed Nigerians and politically exposed persons. This shows the deeply rooted, systemic nature of the malaise of corruption, that, commendable as the EFCC’s efforts are, it may just be the tip of the iceberg. If such a massive sum could be recovered from just one sector of the government and public service, it is left to the imagination what will be happening in other equally important and strategic areas.

For instance, just as it takes two to tango, the persons from whom these recoveries were made could not have succeeded in their nefarious activities without the collusion and abetment of public servants in the various ministries and agencies of government. We believe that if the EFCC were to cast its searchlight towards those areas, much more is bound to be recovered.

Another area of concern is on the incidence of re-looting of funds recovered. In the past, we have had situations where not only were the recovered funds declared below what was expected, but little or nothing was heard about the huge amounts of the recovered cash and assets again.

In this regard, we join Nigerians in calling for more robust efforts from the EFCC in strengthening the anti-corruption drive. We align with the call by the Executive Director of the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), who said: “We believe that if the recovery of assets continues, especially transparently, it will help fight corruption. Whether these recoveries will help improve Nigeria’s rating in terms of TI ranking will be determined by the transparent administration and management of the recovered assets and loots.’’

Similarly, the Africa Centre for Media and Information Literacy (AFRICMIL), through its coordinator, has urged the Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, to work expeditiously on passing the Nigeria Whistleblower Bill into law. He said a legal framework to safeguard whistleblowers was long overdue in promoting transparency, accountability and good governance.

We agree with AFRICMIL that the passage of this bill into law will help strengthen the fight on corruption leading to more recoveries made by the EFCC and its sister anti-corruption agencies.

It remains to be said that the deleterious effects on our national development efforts cannot be overemphasised. This can be gauged from the fact that most of the proceeds of corrupt enrichment are transferred abroad by those involved to purchase assets and such other nest eggs. Those funds and assets help to benefit the economies of the countries where they are domiciled, with little or no benefit to Nigerians. This results in capital flight, leading to paucity of investment, unemployment and general economic underdevelopment with its attendant negative effects on the present and future of the country.

To stem this trend, we wholeheartedly support and commend the efforts of the EFCC and its sister agencies and urge them to do more as required by their mandates and expectation of Nigerians in the fight against corruption.