By Nathaniel Zaccheaus, Abuja
Nigeria’s anti-corruption drive is under serious threat as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) have warned the Senate that persistent underfunding is crippling investigations, prosecutions and staff welfare, with damaging consequences for the country’s international image.
The heads of the two foremost anti-graft agencies raised the alarm on Wednesday during their 2026 budget defence before the Senate Committee on Anti-Corruption and Financial Crimes, painting a stark picture of institutions tasked with fighting corruption but constrained by acute financial limitations.
Chairman of ICPC, Dr Musa Adamu Aliyu (SAN), told lawmakers that inadequate funding had forced prosecutors to personally finance court appearances, while several investigations had stalled due to lack of logistics, workforce and operational funds.
“Our major challenge remains funding. There are times prosecutors use their personal money to go to court, and many investigations cannot proceed as scheduled because we are unable to pay service providers,” Aliyu said.
He explained that although personnel costs in 2025 were near full, releases for overheads and capital projects were grossly inadequate.
According to him, the commission received ₦10.13 billion out of the ₦10.62 billion appropriated for personnel costs, but only ₦2.2 billion was released from the ₦7.82 billion overhead allocation, representing just 28 per cent.
“For capital expenditure, only ₦449 million out of the ₦7.3 billion approved was released, and that came very late, on November 28, 2025,” he added.
Despite funding challenges, the ICPC boss said the commission recorded significant achievements during the period under review, including the recovery of ₦33.1 billion in cash, $1.98 million, and various assets, including land, vehicles, and businesses.
He disclosed that the commission filed 72 cases, secured 36 convictions, handled 453 ongoing cases and processed over 1,100 petitions.
However, Aliyu stressed that limited resources severely hampered the pace of investigations and prosecutions.
“Some cases take between two and five years to conclude. Funding constraints affect travel, document retrieval, forensic tools and workforce. We are forced to prioritise cases based on available resources,” he said.
Aliyu further warned that poor funding had negatively affected staff morale and security.
He revealed that a staff member of the commission was recently kidnapped and remains in captivity.
“My staff morale is very low. Their welfare is poor, yet they handle highly sensitive and risky cases. Just two days ago, one of our staff members was kidnapped and is still in captivity,” he told the committee.
He appealed to the National Assembly to urgently improve funding, infrastructure and staff welfare for the commission, noting that several state offices were still operating from rented premises.
“Without adequate funding, there is no way this agency can effectively fight corruption. This will also affect Nigeria’s image globally,” Aliyu said, assuring lawmakers that the ICPC would continue to maintain strict fiscal discipline in the use of funds.
The EFCC also echoed similar concerns. Its Executive Chairman, Mr Ola Olukoyede, disclosed that only about 74 per cent of the commission’s total appropriation was released in 2025, while capital releases stood at roughly 50 per cent, leaving many contractors and service providers unpaid.
“Most of our contractors have not been serviced, including licence providers. This will pose a major problem in the future because we depend on those licences to carry out our work,” Olukoyede said.
He revealed that the EFCC proposed a budget of about ₦88 billion for 2026, including ₦22.8 billion earmarked for capital projects, but warned that outstanding obligations from 2025 could stall the execution of new projects.
The EFCC chairman also disclosed unpaid severance liabilities of about ₦3 billion owed to 32 retired officers of the commission.
Members of the Senate committee expressed concern about the revelations and pledged to work to improve funding for anti-graft agencies.
Chairman of the committee, Senator Emmanuel Udende, described the situation as unfortunate, noting that Nigeria’s anti-corruption agencies were underfunded compared to those in other jurisdictions.
“It is sad that funding for anti-corruption agencies in Nigeria is very poor compared to what obtains in other countries. We will see what we can do to improve the situation,” Udende said.
The warnings from both agencies have heightened concerns that, without adequate funding and institutional support, Nigeria’s fight against corruption may falter at a time when public accountability and institutional credibility are under intense scrutiny.
