By Nkechi Eze
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.
Dele Oyewale the commission’s spokesperson in a signed statement disclosed that the NIALS Director General gave the plaudits in Abuja on Tuesday March 18, 2025 when he led the his management team 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.
