The Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Mr Ola Olukoyede, has charged the Chairman, National Sports Commission, NSC, Shehu Dikko, on the need to observe regulatory compliance in the interest of sports development in the country.
He gave the charge in Abuja on Friday, May 29, as Dikko led the top management team of NSC on a courtesy visit to him at EFCC’s corporate headquarters.
“We always want to engage in the spirit of working together. As you would have known, the EFCC has had cause to investigate some of your predecessors, and some of the case files are still alive. I think there is a need for us to work together. If there are things that we need to prevent, we have to prevent them before they lead to what will attract investigations,” he said.
Actualising this, according to Olukoyede, will involve the intervention of EFCC’s department of Fraud Risk Assessment and Control, FRAC, dedicated to fraud prevention in Ministries, Departments and Agencies in the financial undertakings of the NSC.
“We now have a department, called the Fraud Risk Assessment and Control, FRAC, basically set up for prevention purposes. That department will work with you so that we can set up our fraud risk compliance template for your Commission on those things that you have to watch out for in the areas of procurement, contract award and management of funds.”
He regretted that grants, subventions and monetary awards from international sporting organisations were mismanaged by the leadership of NSC in the past and cautioned that such financial malpractices should be avoided going forward.
“In the time past, some of the funds we earned from international bodies were mismanaged, and we wouldn’t want such to repeat itself anymore. Some of the contracts you have signed and MoUs would also be part of it, particularly for your new agency, the National Anti-Doping Agency,” he said.
Speaking further, he declared that “We will look at those grey areas that land people into violating the financial laws of the country. Prevention is better than a cure. People will want to hear that the EFCC is investigating the NSC. I think we should avoid that going forward, so put it into consideration right from day one, so that we can work out a template for you and probably create a desk that can liaise with you, so that we will be able to look at your structures, your systems, your processes and help you redefine them and see how we can come up with a risk assessment for you to run your processes free of suspicions.”
The EFCC boss, who disclosed that he has been closely following the activities of the Dikko management of NSC, praised him for the positive changes he has introduced and their outcomes.
“I have seen changes. You have been changing the face of sports in Nigeria very drastically. Corporate bodies are now willing to come around to support and sponsor sporting activities in the country. We are monitoring the development.
“So I welcome this collaboration. There is no doubt that you have taken sports from the realm of just being sports to that of a national asset, something that adds value to our economy. Now we are seeing sports as something all of us can support. We are ready to work with you and create a desk that will liaise with you. I wish you more success,” he said.
In his remarks, Dikko stated that he was on a mission to seek collaboration with relevant agencies in driving his vision of ‘Renewed Hope Initiative for Sports’. “I am here because we want to clean the system for the first time. We pilot an independent integrity board that is working to make sure that everything goes appropriately,” he said.
He regretted that the country for many years was more concerned with simply going to competitions and often getting nothing and coming back home as tourists, stating that “We have to be direct and intentional and create frameworks, decisions, collaborations that can drive responsibility towards the design to get the desired results through sports and for the private sector to come to play the role the government is playing in sports,” he said.
He described sports as a key sector that can drive not just the social and economic development, but also a tool for economic advancement and unity in the country.
