The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ola Olukoyede, has called on civil society organisations across the country to engage in a robust anti-corruption campaign at the grassroots.

EFCC Spokesperson, Dele Oyewale, said in a statement on Saturday in Abuja that Mr Olukoyede made the call at an engagement between the EFCC and CSOs in Akwa-Ibom, Abia and Cross River states.

According to Mr Olukoyede, the task of fighting corruption requires the buy-in of every stakeholder in the country, including people at the grassroots.

“Do not leave the fight against corruption to the EFCC alone; support the work as CSOs to enlighten the public, particularly the ones at the grassroots. It’s all about sacrifice. 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.

The Uyo Zonal Commander of the commission, Bawa Saidu, who represented the EFCC chairman, urged the participants, who are closer to the grassroots, to spread the message of anti-corruption.

Mr Olukoyede also urged the CSOs to support the EFCC with relevant intelligence to expose corrupt practices in society.

According to him, such support is important as the success of the EFCC is the success of every Nigerian.

In his remarks, Head of the Public Interface Unit of the Commission, Tony Orilade, outlined several ways of reaching the commission.

These, he said, 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.

Mr Orilade said that the commission could be reached by the public at any time.

Speaking on the expected roles of the CSOs in supporting the commission, ASE II Aisha Mohammed, said that the engagement was to get more input on how to win the war against corruption.

“We need you to be our eyes and ears. We are here to brainstorm on how we can improve 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.

She also outlined some of the commission’s anti-corruption initiatives, which include setting up integrity clubs in primary schools and zero-tolerance clubs in tertiary institutions.

Representatives of CSOs at the engagement said they would support the EFCC in its crusade against corrupt practices.

Clifford Thomas of the Foundation for Civic Education, Human Rights and Development Advancement and Nkechi Udoh of the Ukeme Development Initiative spoke on the work of the EFCC and proposed positive ways of strengthening its mandate.

They embraced the idea of a grassroots campaign and promised to give the initiative a greater push.

(NAN)