EFCC tasks pastors, imams on anti-corruption preaching

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The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ola Olukoyede, has urged religious leaders to use their pulpits and mosques to preach against corruption, saying faith communities can prevent corrupt practices before the EFCC gets involved.

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Olukoyede made the call on Wednesday in Abuja at the second 2026 Council Meeting of the Nigeria Inter-Religious Council and the launch of the Anti-Corruption Interfaith Manual for religious leaders.

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He said religious institutions had an “extraordinary responsibility” in Nigeria’s fight against corruption, stressing that the influence of pastors and imams could go beyond the enforcement powers of the anti-graft agency.

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“The EFCC can investigate a person’s conduct. Faith communities can influence that person’s character. We can prosecute fraud. Religious teaching can cultivate honesty.

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“We can confiscate illicit wealth. Churches and mosques can challenge the values that make society worship wealth without questioning its source. We can punish corruption after the event. Faith can help prevent it before it begins,” Olukoyede said.

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The EFCC chairman said corruption should not be viewed through religious or ethnic lenses, noting that its consequences affect Nigerians irrespective of their faith.

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“Financial crime has no religion. Corruption has no tribe. Fraud does not become Christian or Muslim because of the identity of the person accused of committing it,” he stated.

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Olukoyede added, “When public money is stolen, both Christians and Muslims suffer. A badly equipped hospital does not first ask a dying patient where he worships. A collapsed road does not distinguish between a Christian traveller and a Muslim traveller. Unemployment does not respect denomination. Inflation does not spare one faith community.”

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He urged pastors and imams to use the newly launched manual to educate their followers on why corruption was “heinous” and to challenge the pursuit of wealth without regard to its source.

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The EFCC boss said the commission had been engaging Christian and Muslim leaders through its interfaith framework to promote anti-corruption messages.

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“We have been doing this through the interfaith framework. Over the years, we have specifically spelt out what should be the roles of religious leaders and the doctrine they need to pass down to their followers.

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“We believe that no religion condones corruption and no faith entertains fraudulent engagements,” he said.

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Olukoyede said the new manual was developed with the participation of leaders of both faiths and contained the doctrinal positions of Christianity and Islam on corruption.

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The Executive Secretary of NIREC, Prof Cornelius Omonokhua, said the second edition of the anti-corruption preaching and teaching manual was developed through the Interfaith Anti-Corruption Advisory Committee of the EFCC.

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He said the manual and facilitators’ guides were designed to assist Christian and Muslim preachers in communicating authentic religious teachings against corruption while promoting peaceful coexistence.

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Omonokhua said, “No nation can flourish in the face of corruption at all levels,” adding that a religious leader involved in corrupt practices could not claim to uphold the teachings of his faith.

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Also speaking, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume, who represented President Bola Tinubu, said religious leaders and other stakeholders had a role to play in addressing insecurity and other challenges confronting the country.

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Akume said violence, banditry, kidnapping, communal clashes and terrorism had left many Nigerians afraid, including parents who were reluctant to send their children to school.

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He said religious leaders, traditional rulers and the government must work together to counter narratives of division and conflict.

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The event was attended by the President of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Rev Daniel Okoh; the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar; former Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board Registrar, Prof Ishaq Oloyede; the Emir of Zazzau, Alhaji Ahmed Nuhu Bamalli; and the Shehu of Borno, Abubakar Umar El-Kanemi, among others.

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The EFCC has previously identified engagement with faith-based organisations as part of its preventive anti-corruption strategy, including the development of interfaith manuals for Christians and Muslims.

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