EFCC, ICPC lament ‘chronic’ underfunding, say prosecutors funding court appearances

Anti-corruption agencies in the country have warned that“chronic underfunding” is undermining investigations, prosecutions, and staffwelfare. The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related OffencesCommission (ICPC) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)raised the concerns on Tuesday during their 2026 budget defence by the senatecommittee on anti-corruption and financial crimes. Musa Adamu Aliyu, ICPC chairman, said funding constraintshave forced prosecutors to bankroll court appearances from personal funds,while several investigations have stalled due to lack of logistics andoperational resources. “Our major challenge remains funding. Prosecutors sometimesuse their personal money to go to court, and several investigations could notproceed as scheduled because we could not pay service providers,” Aliyu said. He noted that although N10.13 billion out of the N10.62billion appropriated for personnel costs in 2025 was released, only N2.2billion of the N7.82 billion overhead allocation was disbursed, representing 28percent. “For capital expenditure, only N449 million out of N7.3billion approved was released, and that came very late, on November 28, 2025,”he added. Aliyu said the commission recovered N33.1 billion in cash,$1.98 million and various assets, filed 72 cases, secured 36 convictions,handled 453 ongoing cases and processed over 1,100 petitions despite theconstraints. “Some cases take between two and five years to conclude.Funding constraints affect travel, document retrieval, forensic tools, andmanpower. We have to prioritise cases based on available resources,” he said. He warned that poor funding has affected staff morale andsecurity, noting that one of the commission’s personnel was recently kidnapped. “My staff morale is very low. Their welfare is poor, yetthey investigate highly sensitive and risky cases. Two days ago, one of ourstaff was kidnapped and is still in captivity,” he said. Aliyu urged the national assembly to improve funding andinfrastructure, adding that some state offices still operate from rentedfacilities. “Without adequate funding, there is no way this agency caneffectively fight corruption. It will also affect Nigeria’s image globally,” hesaid. Ola Olukoyede, EFCC chairman, also told the committee thatonly 74 percent of the commission’s total 2025 appropriation was released,while capital releases stood at about 50 percent. “Most of our contractors have not been serviced, includinglicence providers. This will pose a major problem for us going forward becausewe need those licences to continue our work,” Olukoyede said. He said the EFCC proposed about N88 billion for 2026,including N22.8 billion for capital projects, but warned that outstandingobligations from 2025 could hinder new projects. Olukoyede also disclosed that about N3 billion is owed inseverance benefits to 32 retired officers. Emmanuel Udende, chairman of the senate committee, describedthe situation as unfortunate and pledged improved support for the agencies. “It is sad that funding for anti-corruption agencies is verypoor compared to other countries. We will see what we can do to improve it,”Udende said. He said the committee would work to ensure the agencies areadequately resourced to deliver on their mandates.

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