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The Director General of the Nigeria Institute of
Advanced Legal Studies, NIALS, Professor Abdulqadir Ibrahim Abikan has
applauded the Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission, Mr. Ola Olukoyede on his rising success in breaking the scourge of
economic and financial crimes and other acts of corruption.
He gave the plaudits in Abuja on Tuesday March
18, 2025 when he led the management team of NIALS on a courtesy visit to
Olukoyede at the Commission’s corporate headquarters.
According to him, the EFCC under the watch of
Olukoyede is making impressive progress, with greater prospects on the horizon
for Nigeria regarding the fight against corruption.
“We are very happy with what the EFCC is
doing. The whole world is applauding the good work that EFCC is
doing. And I'm very confident that with the success of EFCC
and other relevant agencies, we'll soon get to our destination as a country”,
he said.
While noting that the visit to the Commission was for
the exploration of collaborative areas of research and training, Abikan
added that “NIALS is the foremost legal research Institute in the
country, dedicated to training of lawyers, judges, even non-lawyers in
different areas of law.”
He further stated that NIALS works
in partnership with a number of agencies in terms of
training and desires to bring the EFCC on board. “So, this is what I
brought to the EFCC, for us to identify areas that we can
collaborate. We do training and I want to acknowledge that quite a number
of EFCC staff have participated in our training before now", he
said.
While acknowledging an existing relationship between
the agencies of the government, he disclosed that “On many occasions we have
invited staffers of EFCC when we are doing training that has to do with
forensic analysis and evidence gathering. So, we want to
acknowledge and appreciate EFCC for the expertise being provided to us in this
area.”
In his response, Olukoyede expressed joy at the visit
and assured the NIALS team of the Commission’s willingness for partnership and
collaboration. “On our part we are open to collaboration. We are open to
partnership and rest assured that you will have a partner in
us.
We're willing to build on our existing
relationship with you particularly in the areas of investigation
and prosecution. And also in the area of the review of our laws,
particularly the EFCC Act and other financial crimes laws in
Nigeria. We are not just confined to our own mandate. We are also a
coordinating agency for all financial crime laws in Nigeria. This would
mark another era of a very cordial and beneficial relationship
between the Institute and the EFCC,” he said.
