The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has commissioned an ultra modern Data Centre, which will serve as the nerve centre and data bank for the commission, at its headquarters in Abuja.
Speaking at the occasion, Mrs. Farida Waziri, chairman of the EFCC, expressed her gratitude to the European Commission for the consistency it has shown in the fight against corruption and fraud by backing it up with funds while commending the United Nation’s Office on Drugs and Crimes for managing the grant.
"I make bold to say clearly that their support has been total, unqualified and unconditional," she said.
Part of the European Union grant of $32 million to the commission was used in financing the Data Centre.
"The data centre commissioning illustrates clearly and in concrete terms what the cooperation between the commission and the development partners present here can achieve, Waziri added.
Michael Aondoakaa (SAN) attorney general of the Federation and minister of justice said commissioning the data centre marks yet another milestone in the effort to fight financial crimes in the country while affirming the federal government’s zero tolerance for corruption.
"As an administration anchored on the Rule of Law, we desire to achieve zero tolerance for corruption by prosecuting the war on corruption within the ambit of the law. We can fight this crime and enforce the law within the ambit of our constitution," said he.
Aondoakaa lamented that corruption was one evil that has given the nation a bad name saying "If we must take our proper place as a nation, we must without delay do away with this evil. We cannot attain our vision of being one of the greatest 20 economies in the world by 2020 if we don’t do away with corruption. Our commitment to the eradication of corruption is therefore total,"
Denis Thieulin, head of European Commission delegation expressed delight over the project saying the establishment of the data centre is a component of the project – Support of Law Enforcement against Economic and Financial Crimes.
He said that in addition to the data centre at the EFCC headquarters, the project will support the establishment of two additional data centres in EFCC office in Lagos and another at the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit, NFIU, Abuja.
"The EC is proud to be associated with the hard work and successes of the EFCC in the fight against corruption. Corruption has not only undermined the capacity of Nigeria to utilize its enormous resources to uplift the lives of its people, it has also badly affected its image in the eyes of foreign investors," Thieulin informed.
He added that the data centre is a state of the art facility that is important for law enforcement agencies and financial intelligence, expressing confidence that the data centre will further enhance the reputation of EFCC, just as he charged the commission to fully utilize it for its operations.
