The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ola Olukoyede, has called on religious leaders to use their churches and mosques to educate Nigerians on the dangers of corruption, noting that faith-based institutions can help stop corrupt practices before they require the intervention of the EFCC.
Olukoyede made the appeal on Wednesday in Abuja during the second 2026 Council Meeting of the Nigeria Inter-Religious Council, where the Anti-Corruption Interfaith Manual for religious leaders was also launched.
He described religious institutions as having an “extraordinary responsibility” in the country’s battle against corruption, noting that the influence of pastors and imams on individual character could extend beyond the enforcement powers of the anti-graft agency.
“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.
“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.
The EFCC chairman maintained that corruption should not be viewed from religious or ethnic perspectives, stressing that its impact cuts across all sections of society.
“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.
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.”
He encouraged pastors and imams to make use of the newly introduced manual to educate their congregations about why corruption was “heinous” and discourage the pursuit of wealth without concern for its source.
According to the EFCC chairman, the commission has continued to work with Christian and Muslim leaders under its interfaith framework to strengthen anti-corruption campaigns.
“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.
“We believe that no religion condones corruption and no faith entertains fraudulent engagements,” he said.
Olukoyede explained that the new manual was produced with input from leaders of both major faiths and contains the doctrinal perspectives of Christianity and Islam on corruption.
The Executive Secretary of NIREC, Prof. Cornelius Omonokhua, said the second edition of the anti-corruption preaching and teaching manual was produced through the Interfaith Anti-Corruption Advisory Committee of the EFCC.
He explained that the manual and facilitators’ guides were created to support Christian and Muslim preachers in presenting authentic religious teachings against corruption while encouraging peaceful coexistence.
Omonokhua said, “No nation can flourish in the face of corruption at all levels,” adding that a religious leader who engages in corrupt practices cannot claim to be following the teachings of his faith.
Also speaking at the event, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume, who represented President Bola Tinubu, said religious leaders and other stakeholders have important roles to play in tackling insecurity and other challenges facing the country.
Akume noted that violence, banditry, kidnapping, communal conflicts and terrorism had created fear among many Nigerians, including parents who were increasingly hesitant to send their children to school.
He called for collaboration among religious leaders, traditional rulers and the government to challenge narratives that promote division and conflict.
The gathering 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 other dignitaries.
The EFCC has previously listed collaboration with faith-based organisations among its preventive strategies against corruption, including the production of interfaith manuals for Christian and Muslim communities.
