The chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede, has called on Nigerians to refrain from supporting suspects and convicts of economic and financial crimes and other acts of corruption.

EFCC spokesperson Dele Oyewale said this in a statement on Friday in Abuja.

Mr Oyewale explained that the EFCC boss gave the warning at the 38th Anti-Corruption Situation Room (ACSR) organised by the Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA) in Abuja.

He spoke on the topic “Ethics, Integrity, Corruption Risk Assessments and Anti-Corruption at National and Sub-National Levels; Sustaining the fight against corruption in Nigeria”.

The EFCC boss stressed that any support offered to corrupt elements might have detrimental effects on the fight against corruption.

“I urge you that when you see people whom we are prosecuting, and we have shown you the evidence, don’t carry placards, don’t join them to fight us because you are contributing to the problems.

”If we must fight this cankerworm, then all of these must stop. We must fight both the mini and the mega, let’s give the people the dividend of democracy for once,” he said.

In the same vein, human rights lawyer Femi Falana (SAN) submitted that the fight against corruption should be taken to the grassroots level as it is difficult to combat corruption without alliance with the people who are the victims.

”The people must hold the leaders accountable by knowing what is going on. The people should be sensitised, they should be carried along, and they should be able to monitor their budgets.

”The state government should have anti-corruption agencies at the state levels to checkmate corruption in the states,” Mr Falana said.

In their goodwill messages, the country director and deputy director of the MacArthur Foundation, Kola Shetima and Aminu Salihu, stressed the need for collective action against corruption, pointing out that Nigeria is a commonwealth that must be protected.

(NAN)