The Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Ola Olukoyede, has called on Nigerian leaders to study and emulate the leadership character of former President of Nigeria, Umaru Musa Yar’adua.
Recall that Yar’adua became president in 2007, but died in 2010 as a result of ill-health.
Drawing inspiration from Yar’adua, Olukoyede said he displayed qualities of integrity and transparency, which he noted were key tools in making a good leader.
The EFCC boss spoke at the first President Umaru Musa Yar’adua International Leadership Conference and Awards in Abuja yesterday.
Speaking on “Moral and Ethical Leadership; Antidote to National Development” Olukoyede, who spoke through the Director of Public Affairs of the Commission, Wilson Uwujaren, noted that though there were rules and laws across the country to enthrone integrity, the poor enforcement of the laws were responsible for low integrity quotients among many Nigerians.
He said: “The EFCC as a commission identifies with the legacy Yar’adua left behind because that is what the Commission stands for, which is integrity and transparency.
“If you look at the theme of this event, it borders on moral and ethical leadership and that is what he stood for both as Katsina governor and as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“These are virtues we are here to identify with and I want to also believe that the future generation will imbibe these virtues.
“If you look at the work of the EFCC, the mandate that the government has given us captures the key points of integrity, fairness and transparency in both the public and private sector, so all the crimes that we set out to fight, are all about integrity and ethics.
“Are we talking about embezzlement, bribery, contract inflation and all the ills that we will find in the public sector? All boils down to the absence of integrity. So I want to implore us to imbibe integrity in all that we do.”
Continuing, the EFCC boss said that the commission was committed to the provisions of its Establishment Act, vowing that the Commission will not relent in its enforcement roles.
