October 27, 2022

The Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Mr. Abdulrasheed Bawa on Thursday presented an estimate of N41,120,071,521.75 (Forty One Billion, One Hundred and Twenty Million, Seventy One Thousand, Five Hundred and Twenty One Naira, Seventy Five Kobo) as its budget for the year 2023.

In a statement by the agency on Thursday,  the EFCC boss explained that the proposal comprise the sum of N36,834,903,804.75 (Thirty Six billion, Eight Hundred and Thirty Four million, Nine Hundred and Three Thousand, Eight Hundred and Four Naira, Seventy Five Kobo) only as Personnel cost; while the sum of N3,835,460,631.00 (Three Billion, Eight Hundred and Thirty Five Million, Four Hundred and Sixty Thousand, Six Hundred and Thirty One Naira) and N530,707,086.00 (Five Hundred and Thirty Million, Seven Hundred and Seven Thousand, Eighty Six Naira) represent the Overhead and Capital vote component.

According to him, the 2023 estimate of N41,120,071,521.75 is slightly lower than the N43,696,381,562.46 appropriation for 2022. He, however, disclosed that only 53% of the appropriation had been released as at August 31, 2022, with the budget performance put at 83.35% of the total releases.

Highlighting the Commission’s performance in 2022, Bawa disclosed that the EFCC recorded a total of 2,847 convictions as at October 21, 2022. The figure, he said, is higher than the 2,220 convictions recorded by the Commission in 2021.

Commenting on the Commission’s performance, the Chair of the Committee, Senator Suleiman Abdul Kwari lauded the reforms in the Commission.

He said he was pleasantly surprised to discover the existence of a Petitions Vetting Committee which examines every petition to determine their relevance to the mandate of the EFCC.

He explained that one of his constituents who had petitioned the Commission recently got a reply from the committee, explaining why his petition could not be treated. This, to him, demonstrated sensitivity and commitment to service.