The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has proposed a budget estimate of N76.59bn for the 2024 financial year.
This is as the anti-graft agency said the capital projects executed in 2023 were rolled over from 2022.
The chairman of the commission, Ola Olukoyede, disclosed these on Tuesday at an interface with the House of Representatives Committee on Financial Crime while defending the EFCC budget estimates for 2024.
Olukoyede said, “The commission’s total budget proposal for 2024 is N76.59bn. The 2024 proposed estimate of N76.59bn, represents a 53.48 per cent increase over and above the 2023 Appropriation of N49.91 bn. This increase is solely attributed to the increase in personnel cost from N36.83bn in 2023 to N37.07bn in 2024.
“Under budgetary heads, we have the personnel, overhead and the capital. In our proposal for 2024, we have proposed N37.07bn against an envelope of the same amount of N37.07bn. We still maintained the amount we had in the envelope, in personnel costs.
“Under overhead, the envelope was N4.79bn, but we are proposing to this committee to help us to carry out our mandate, with the sum of N14.51bn.
“Under our capital cost, we have an envelope of N1.24bn, which will not do anything for us. As a result, we are proposing N25bn as our capital cost,” he said.
He premised the demand for increased capital spending on the growth of the commission, saying, “Our operations keep expanding and we also envisaged that we are going to bring in more staff in the year (2024) under review.”
The EFCC boss further revealed the commission’s overhead cost in 2024 as N14.5bn up from N10.53bn in 2023 and N25bn capital expenditure up from N2.5bn in 2023.
“Quite a number of our zonal offices are rented apartments, and of course, when you are doing this kind of work, it’s not expedient for you to operate in rented apartments. We intend to have our buildings across the 14 zonal offices we operate, outside Abuja.
“The request for additional overhead is because of the high cost of air travel tickets, motor vehicles costs, diesel cost, building maintenance, operational vehicles, office equipment, acquisition of our properties and maintenance of our operations in other 14 zonal commands apart from Abuja,” he said.
In his earlier remarks, the Chairman of the Committee, Ginger Onwucebe, (LP, Abia State) noted that the Committee would do its part to assist the government in the fight against financial crimes.
“Our task is formidable, as financial crimes continue to evolve in sophistication and scale, posing a significant threat to the stability and growth of our economy.
“The challenges we face require not only vigilance, but a strategic allocation of resources to empower the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit to effectively, counteract illicit activities that undermine our economic well-being and our nation.
“The budget we are reviewing today is not merely a set of figures but a reflection of our dedication to creating an environment, where our citizens can trust the financial institutions that drive our economic engine for growth and development,” he said.
He also emphasized the need to invest in the training of personnel to enhance the capacity of EFCC personnel.
“By providing comprehensive training programmes, we can equip our teams with the expertise needed to navigate complex financial investigations and ensure a swift and effective response to illicit activities.
“Let us unite in our commitment to safeguarding the economic prosperity of our nation, recognizing that our collaboration with NFIU is instrumental in achieving our common goal,” he said, stressing that “Together, we can build a resilient financial system.”
