The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) on Tuesday told the Senate that Nigeria’s anti-corruption war is being severely constrained by chronic underfunding, with prosecutors sometimes paying from their pockets to attend court and investigations stalled for lack of vehicles, forensic tools, and manpower. Chairman of the ICPC, Dr. Musa Adamu Aliyu SAN, and the Executive Chairman of the EFCC, Olu Olukoyede, spoke during their 2026 budget defence session before the Senate Committee on Anti-Corruption and Financial Crimes on Tuesday.
The two anti-graft agencies warned that the agencies’ ability to fight graft and improve Nigeria’s global corruption perception ranking was at risk. “Our major challenge remains funding. Prosecutors sometimes use their personal money to go to court, and several investigations could not proceed as scheduled because we could not pay service providers,” the ICPC chairman, Aliyu, said.
Aliyu said the Commission’s personnel cost performance in 2025 was nearly perfect, with ₦10.13 billion released out of the ₦10.62 billion appropriated and ₦10.12 billion utilised, representing 99.96 per cent performance. However, he said overhead and capital releases were abysmally low.
“Only ₦2.2billion out of the ₦7.82 billion overhead allocation was released, representing 28 per cent. For capital expenditure, only ₦449 million out of ₦7.3 billion approved was released, and that came late, on November 28, 2025,” Aliyu said.
Despite the constraints, the ICPC boss said the Commission recovered ₦33.1 billion in cash and $1.98 million, alongside assets including land, vehicles, and businesses, filed 72 cases, secured 36 convictions, and managed 453 ongoing cases.
He said the agency also received 1,107 petitions, assigned 700 for investigation, and completed 250. He attributed the gap between assigned and completed investigations to funding and manpower shortages. “Some cases take two to five years to conclude. Funding constraints affect travel, document retrieval, forensic tools, and manpower. We have to prioritise cases based on available resources,” he explained.
He added, “With adequate funding, infrastructure, and manpower, the number of completed investigations will increase. Some lawyers even pay out of their own pockets to prosecute cases. “We prioritise prevention because investigations require significant funds and time. Human capital gaps in state offices also delay investigations.”
The ICPC chairman also raised concerns about staff welfare and security, revealing that one officer was recently kidnapped and remains in captivity. “My staff morale is very low. Their welfare is poor, yet they investigate highly sensitive and risky cases. Two days ago, our staff was kidnapped and is still in captivity,” he said. Aliyu appealed for increased funding, improved infrastructure, and better welfare for staff, noting that some state offices were still operating from rented premises.
“Without adequate funding, there is no way this agency can effectively fight corruption. It will also affect Nigeria’s image globally,” he said, assuring lawmakers that all funds would be spent with strict fiscal discipline and tied to performance indicators.
Similarly, the EFCC told lawmakers that inadequate releases and unpaid obligations could hamper operations in 2026. The Executive Chairman of the Commission, Olukoyede, told the committee that only 74 per cent of its total appropriation was released, with capital releases limited to 50 per cent in 2025, adding that many contractors and licence providers had not been paid.
“Most of our contractors have not been serviced, including licence providers. This will pose a major problem for us going forward because we need those licences to continue our work,” Olukoyede said. The EFCC proposed a total 2026 budget of about ₦88 billion, including ₦22.8 billion for capital projects, but warned that outstanding payments for 2025 projects could stall implementation. The EFCC also disclosed outstanding severance liabilities for 32 retired officers amounting to about ₦3billion.
Committee members expressed concern over the poor funding of anti-corruption agencies, promising to engage the Appropriations Committee to improve allocations. “It is sad that funding for anti-corruption agencies is very poor compared to other countries. We will see what we can do to improve it,” the Chairman of the committee, Senator Emmanuel Udende, said.
