• Revenue-generating agencies operating with impunity, ICPC laments

Pandora’s box has opened at the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Chairman, Ola Olukoyede, yesterday, said preliminary findings from a probe of the company revealed mind-boggling sleaze.

The anti-graft agency is also pushing for the criminalisation of unexplained wealth, as done in some countries. This was as the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) urged the National Assembly to intensify its oversight functions on revenue-generating agencies, lamenting that many such agencies operate with impunity, treating public funds as personal property.

EFCC disclosed that it had just begun examining the books of NNPCL, saying early discovery from the investigation launched into the extractive industry by the commission three weeks ago pointed to deep-seated financial malfeasance.

The EFCC boss stated this on the third day of the National Conference on Public Accounts and Fiscal Governance, organised by the Public Accounts Committees of the Senate and House of Representatives in Abuja.

President Bola Tinubu, in April, sacked Mele Kyari as the Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of the NNPCL. Kyari had been at the helm of the national oil company since 2019. The President appointed Bashir Ojulari as the new Group CEO. Olukoyede revealed that early discovery in the investigation of the NNPCL was only the tip of the iceberg in the oil and gas sector.

“In the last three weeks, we started a commission-wide investigation into the extractive industry, particularly the oil and gas sector. What we have discovered is mind-boggling.

“And we have only just opened the books. More corruption is to be unravelled. If this is what we’re seeing at the surface, imagine what lies beneath,” he said.

According to the EFCC boss, this discovery underscores how deeply embedded fiscal misgovernance is across the system. He described fiscal rascality and mismanagement of public resources as a core driver of Nigeria’s economic woes and security challenges.

He further urged the National Assembly to pass a law criminalising unexplained wealth, arguing that “Nigeria cannot win the anti-corruption war without legislation to hold public officers accountable for assets far beyond their legitimate earnings.”

The anti-graft czar, who previously served as secretary to EFCC before his confirmation as chairman, lamented the legal bottlenecks hindering the commission’s ability to prosecute suspicious cases.

He recounted how investigation of public officers often stalls because the law still requires a predicate offence, that is a specific crime such as theft or fraud, before assets can be seized or charges filed.

“Help me pass the Unexplained Wealth Bill,” he pleaded. “I’ve been begging for the past one year. This same bill was thrown out in the last Assembly. If we don’t hold individuals accountable for what they have, we’ll never get it right.”

The Guardian learnt that EFCC is tracking illicit assets across multiple jurisdictions, from America and Turkey to the most unexpected locations like Iceland.

“Last month alone, I visited four or five countries chasing Nigeria’s stolen assets. An ambassador even told me they discovered an estate in Iceland owned by a Nigerian. Iceland of all places!” he lamented.

The EFCC boss admitted that no anti-graft agency, no matter how efficient, could recover more than half of what has been looted. Speaking at the 2025 National Conference on Public Accounts and Fiscal Governance organised by the Senate and House of Representatives Public Accounts Committees in Abuja, yesterday, the ICPC Chairman, Dr Musa Aliyu, said stronger legislative scrutiny was needed to ensure that all revenues collected by the agencies were duly remitted to the national coffers.

“You see, the funny thing is that these revenue-generating agencies believe the money is their own. Unfortunately, it is not theirs. So, please, intensify oversight, so they’ll be held accountable and bring to the table whatever they collect,” he said.

Represented by the Director of Finance, Michael Akporo, the ICPC boss also threw his weight behind the fiscal policy reforms of the President Bola Tinubu administration, particularly the recent tax legislation signed into law, which he said would reposition Nigeria’s fiscal framework and significantly boost revenue mobilisation.