Mr Aliyu Yunusa, Sokoto Zonal Head of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), has called on Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) to engage in active anti-corruption campaigns at the grassroots.
Yunusa made the call at an engagement between the EFCC and CSOs from Sokoto, Kebbi and Zamfara States on Thursday in Sokoto.
He charged the organisations to partner with EFCC formations, addin that the fight against corruption requires every stakeholder to step-up in supporting anti-corruption agencies including people at the grassroots.
“ The fight against corruption is not for EFCC alone, support the work of CSOs to enlighten the public in all your activities, particularly the ones at the grassroots.
“We at the EFCC want to ensure that things are working. We must all put our hands on deck to enable us to win this fight,” he said.
Yunusa enjoined the participants, whom he said were closer to the grassroots, to spread the message of anti-corruption through various community engagements.
He also urged them to provide them with relevant intelligence information to expose corrupt practices in the society.
According to him, such support is important, saying, ”the success of the EFCC is the success of every Nigerian.”
Also speaking, the Head of Enlightenment and Reorientation of EFCC, Mrs A’isha Muhammad, said increased citizens’ engagements to strengthen relationships and continuity of community engagements were crucial.
Muhammad said that the engagement was to get more inputs on how to win the war against corruption and associate with community members to know EFCC’s activities in line with the stipulated mandates.
“ We need you to be our eyes, our ears. We are here to brainstorm on how we can improve on our preventive mandate, we don’t know it all.
“ CSOs are the major stakeholders we have and we will always consult and collaborate in the overall interest of the nation,” she said.
Muhammad listed the commission’s anti-corruption initiatives to include setting up integrity clubs in primary schools and zero-tolerance clubs in tertiary institutions and translated publications into vernacular languages and others.
The Head of Public Interface Unit of the commission, Mr Tony Orilade, outlined several ways of reaching it to include using the Eagle Eye App, the commission’s hotline (08093322644), info@efcc.gov.gov, and its website: www.efcc.gov.ng; and @officialefcc, among others. (NAN)
