The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede, has alleged that nearly 75 per cent of funds released by the Federal Government for Christian and Muslim pilgrimages were diverted by officials overseeing the programmes.
Olukoyede made the allegation in Abuja while addressing the Nigeria Inter-Religious Council meeting and presenting the EFCC’s Anti-Corruption Interfaith Manual for religious bodies.
He said the alleged diversion was uncovered during EFCC investigations into the activities of agencies responsible for Christian and Muslim pilgrimage programmes.
According to the EFCC chairman, some of the findings were “mind-boggling”, with officials entrusted with public funds allegedly diverting substantial portions of the money.
He further alleged that some officials registered private companies in countries visited by Nigerian pilgrims, creating potential conflicts of interest.
Olukoyede said the allegations reinforced the need for religious leaders and institutions to demonstrate integrity and transparency before demanding the same standards from their followers.
He also warned religious leaders against mixing funds belonging to churches, mosques and other faith-based organisations with their personal finances or businesses.
“Whatever they give you, offerings, zakat and all of that, you keep it in that religious organisation. You are not supposed to mingle it,” he said.
The EFCC chairman stressed that religious leaders were free to operate legitimate businesses but must keep their commercial activities separate from funds entrusted to them by their organisations.
He warned that transferring money belonging to a religious organisation into a personal business amounted to a criminal act.
Olukoyede also urged pastors and imams to scrutinise unusually large donations, particularly those made by public officials whose legitimate earnings could not reasonably account for their wealth.
He said religious leaders should not automatically accept such donations without asking questions about their sources.
According to him, accepting unexplained wealth and publicly celebrating its donor could provide moral cover for proceeds of crime.
The EFCC chairman called on religious institutions to establish internal compliance mechanisms that clearly separate organisational funds from personal finances.
He said money held by religious leaders on behalf of their organisations was held in trust for members and for the propagation of their faith.
The meeting was attended by the Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar; President of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Rev. Daniel Okoh; Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume; as well as other religious and traditional leaders.
Akume urged religious leaders to use their platforms to condemn kidnapping, banditry, communal clashes and terrorism, describing violence as contrary to the values of faith.
