Ibrahim Magu, the acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has stressed that corruption remains a major impediment to foreign direct investment into Nigeria, and so the anti-graft agency remains steadfastly committed to fighting it to a standstill.
“We are not shying away from the fight against corruption, it’s a disaster and we don’t need it in Nigeria,” Magu said during a courtesy visit by Udom Inoyo, Vice Chairman, ExxonMobil affiliate companies in Nigeria, to the EFCC Headquarters, Abuja.
“We will continue to work assiduously to ensure justice in the investment sector, in order to strengthen investors’ confidence in Nigeria,” he added.
Magu, who commended Inoyo for deeming it appropriate to visit the EFCC first, upon his appointment as the Vice Chairman, stressed that the EFCC will do everything possible to restore confidence “so that investors will not lose sleep in investing in Nigeria”.
He noted that “for anybody out there to be encouraged to put money here, we have to ensure a corruption-free environment”.
“We will not allow any form of injustice to happen in Nigeria, and recently President Muhammadu Buhari met with the Shell Group in London and the company is interested in investing $15 billion in Nigeria, this is encouraging,” he said.
He stressed that “investors must see changes in how business is done in Nigeria”, for them to be compelled to invest in the country, adding that a situation where some people want to “squeeze money from the multinationals would not be tolerated”.
“We will work to ensure justice, and we will not allow anybody to use the EFCC to pursue personal vendetta, because we stand for justice, fairness and equity,” he said.
He further encouraged Inoyo’s three-man delegation, which included, Charles Ndiomu, Company Secretary and Assistant General Counsel, and Nigel Cookey-Gam, Manager, Public and Government Affairs, Abuja, to support the EFCC’s anti-corruption crusade.
“We are not claiming any monopoly of knowledge, but we believe that everybody has a stake in the fight and a responsibility to ensure that we fight corruption to a standstill,” he said.
Commending the EFCC for its strides and achievements, Inoyo described his “meet and greet” visit as an attestation to the important role which the anti-graft agency plays in Nigeria.
“A lot of people may not fully understand what you are going through to get the country in the right direction, but we do, and we urge you to keep up the good work,” he said.