EFCC wants N21 billion to fight corruption in 2013

The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Larmode on Monday said the commission is not able to meet the aspirations of Nigerians in carrying out its mandate of fighting corruption due to limited budgetary allocation.

Mr Lamorde was speaking during the budget proposal defence by the Commission before the House of Representatives’ committee on drugs, narcotics and financial crimes.

Mr Lamorde, presented a budget proposal of N21, 028,488,772.90 for 2013, before the National Assembly.

He gave the breakdown of the proposed budget as follows: Capital Expenditure: N11,412,803,582.50; Personnel Cost : N6,514,525,127,00; and Overhead Cost: N3,101,160,063.40.

Mr Lamorde said the EFCC proposal of N21.02 billion as against the N9.3 billion approved by the Budget Office of the Federation leaves a gap of N11.3 billion which could impact adversely on the operation of the agency.

He said: “for 2013, the EFCC requested for N6.51 Billion for personnel cost, and only N5.8 was appropriated by the Budget Office, leaving a short fall of N710 Million. Due to this short fall, the Commission would not be able to meet its personnel cost fully in 2013.”

Also speaking during the commission’s budget proposal defence, the Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Drugs, Narcotics and Financial Crimes, Jagaba Adams Jagaba decried the poor funding of the EFCC by the executive arm of government.

He said “It is even more saddening when funds have been appropriated for the agency in the budget of the federation by the National Assembly and the funds are not released.” He said. Channels