Probing the Probity of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Towards Economic Development of Nigeria

Abstract

Public office holders and government functionaries in Nigeria are ‘marathon athletes’ in money laundering, looting and financial recklessness, each speeding up its pace to ‘out loot’ the other. It suffices to say that the myriads of challenges facing Nigeria today such as nation-building, industrial and technological advancement, economic and political development lingers because of the monster corruption. This article evaluated the extent EFCC activities have contributed to the economic development of Nigeria. It used structural functionalism as a theoretical framework to examine the effectiveness of the structural functions of EFCC. The article revealed that there is dearth of probity, accountability and sincerity of purpose of action by EFCC which culminated into lack of focus, ineffectiveness and government control. Pragmatic recommendations were thus made which if adopted will help assuage the economic backwardness of Nigeria.

Keywords: Accountability, Economic Development, EFCC, Nigeria, Probity.