By Miriam Humbe
Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Mr. Ola Olukoyede has charged the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission, (LACC) to prioritize asset recovery in its operations.
Dele Oyewale, EFCC’s Head of Media and Publicity disclosed this in a statement signed on Friday.
Olukoyede gave the charge on Friday, January 17, 2025 when a delegation of Liberia’s anti-graft body, led by Dr. Miatta Jeh paid him a visit at the EFCC’s Corporate Headquarters following the completion of their training at EFCC’s Academy, Karu, Abuja.
The EFCC boss said that taking away the proceeds of crime limits the ability of the corrupt and the fraudulent to fight back and helps serve as a deterrent to all those who engage in corruption and fraudulent acts.
“I want to encourage you to make asset recovery one of your keys to success. Let it be at the forefront of your operations.
“Because the moment you deprive suspects of access to the proceeds of their crime, you have weakened them.
“They wouldn’t have much power to fight you anymore, even in court. So, the first thing you do in the course of your job is to attack the assets.
“Just go after the assets and you see that they will not be strong enough to continue the battle with you.
“That is what we have inculcated into our operational module in the EFCC,” he said.
Olukoyede further advised the delegation on the importance of forging a good working relationship with their country’s judiciary in order to achieve successes.
“It is also important for you to get the buy-in of the judiciary. Without the support of the judiciary, you can’t go far.
“That is what we have realized in Nigeria. So, you need to cultivate a working relationship with the judiciary.
“Let them know that corruption is the problem of everybody.
“If you do the combination of asset recovery and support of the judiciary, you will see that the work will be easy for you.”
While recalling that the relationship between the EFCC and LACC reached back in time, Olukoyede urged the delegation to put to good use the knowledge they have acquired from their training in the EFCC.
“The relationship between the EFCC and LACC has been built over the years. I remember when I was a Secretary we had a delegation from Liberia too that came for this kind of programme.
“So, I believe in this synergy. This is just another demonstration of the collaboration between our Agency and your Agency since we have the same mandate to fight financial crimes and corruption.
“We are also brothers, so we believe that it is important for us to come together and collaborate in various forms. It is not only going to be limited to capacity building, it would be extended to information sharing.
“So we’re going to take it to the next level. I believe the knowledge you have acquired, you will take it back to Liberia and apply it to your daily routine work.”
Speaking earlier on behalf of the delegation, Dr Miatte Jey, a Commissioner in LACC thanked the EFCC Chairman for making the training possible for her team.
She assured Olukoyede of the gratitude of the Chairperson of LACC, Alexandra K. Zoe and expressed happiness over the knowledge members of the delegation have gained through their training in the EFCC.
“Thank you Mr. Chairman. I want to express a high appreciation to each and every one of you that made this training possible.
“We have gained so much knowledge when it comes to financial crime investigation and report writing. Each one of your facilitators have opened our eyes and given us a broader idea of what it is to fight against corruption.
“We know that as we are going back home, we’ll pass this knowledge forward. I want to say thank you from the Executive Chairperson of LACC, Alexandra K. Zoe. She sent her regards.
“This is just part of our efforts to fight corruption in collaboration with the EFCC,” she said.
Samuel Dakana, another Commissioner in LACC disclosed that the Office of the President of the Republic of Liberia was delighted with the warm reception and other good gestures extended to the delegation by the EFCC.
“The Office of the President is delighted by the gesture and opportunity of experience sharing and the training and we will also take that message back. The LACC of Liberia is not as big as the EFCC in Nigeria, but we are all doing the same work.”
