The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has handed over a N100 million draft recovered from mining companies in Akwa Ibom State to the Federal Ministry of Solid Mineral Development.
The recovered funds, according to the EFCC, came from mining firms that had defaulted in paying royalties to the government.
At a brief ceremony on Friday in Uyo, the EFCC Zonal Director, Assistant Commander of the EFCC (ACE I) Oshodi Johnson, presented the draft to the Federal Mines Officer in charge of Akwa Ibom State, Mr. Emmanuel Effiong Bassey, on behalf of the Commission’s Executive Chairman, Mr. Ola Olukoyede.
Oshodi reaffirmed the Commission’s resolve to ensure transparency and accountability in the recovery and management of government funds.
“We also want the synergy between Federal Ministries and the EFCC to grow stronger, especially in information sharing so that we can do more and achieve more with better cooperation at the strategic, operational and tactical levels,” he said. “I want the general public to know that this is just a tip of the iceberg. We are still investigating and we are going to make bigger recoveries in this sector and beyond.”
Receiving the draft, Bassey lauded the EFCC for its swift intervention and described the mineral and mining sector as vital to economic stability.
“This sector is very critical to the economy because without it, the country struggles, so the synergy really needs to be deepened. With this, we are hoping that much more will come,” he said.
The EFCC stated that the recovery followed actionable intelligence provided by the ministry and assured that it would continue to deploy intelligence to track and recover public funds.
