THE Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has presented N76.586 billion as its 2024 budget proposal to the House of Representatives Committee on Financial Crimes.
The proposed budget presented on Tuesday, December 5, 2023, represents a 53.48 per cent increase in the commission’s 2023 appropriation of N49.901 billion.
In the budget estimate, N37.074 billion was proposed as personnel cost, N14.513 billion as overhead, and N25 billion as capital cost.
Presenting the budget to the committee, the EFCC chairman, Ola Olukoyede, said the 2024 proposed estimate represented a significant increase over 2023’s budget due to additional funds needed for overhead, personnel and capital costs.
“This increase is solely attributable to the increase in personnel cost from N36.83 billion (in 2023) to N37.074 billion in 2024, overhead cost from N10.535billion to 14.513 billion in 2024 and capital cost from N2.531billion to N25.000 billion in 2024,” Olukoyede stated.
Speaking on the 2023 budget performance, Olukoyede explained that N36.835 billion was appropriated as the commission’s personnel cost for the year. “Out of this figure, the sum of N28.452 billion, representing 77 per cent, has been released for the payment of salary and allowances of staff on the commission’s payroll between January and November 2023.
He added that N7.024 billion, representing 67 per cent of the N10.535 billion appropriated for the commission for its overhead cost in 2023, had so far been released.
Olukoyede noted that the exorbitant prices of airline tickets, gasoline and diesel for cars, building upkeep, operating vehicles, and office equipment at the commission’s headquarters and 14 zonal commands were the reasons for the increase in the commission’s budget for overhead.
Responding, the committee’s chairman, Ginger Obinna, said financial crimes were a danger to the growth and stability of any nation.
“It is our duty to stay ahead of these threats, adapt our strategies and equip ourselves adequately to counteract the forces that seek to undermine our economic well-being and that of our nation.
“It is a pledge to provide the necessary resources to empower the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to carry out its vital mission effectively.”
In July 2022, The ICIR reported how the commission budgeted N100 million to buy photocopy machines.
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