Olukoyede charges religious leaders to preach against corruption

Crime Diary, News

ABUJA, Nigeria (NPA) — Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede, has urged religious leaders across Nigeria to continually preach against corruption and its harmful effects on society.

Olukoyede made the call in Abuja on Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2026, at the second 2026 Council Meeting of the Nigeria Inter-Religious Council (NIREC) and the launch of the Anti-Corruption Interfaith Manual for religious leaders.

Presenting a paper at the event, Olukoyede said the theme, “Shared Sacred Flourishing in Nigeria,” required stakeholders in the fight against corruption to recognise that the wellbeing of Nigerians depends on the actions of individual citizens.

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He said acts of corruption undermine shared prosperity and that one of the most consequential contributions religious leaders could make was to restore the moral dignity of honest living.

According to him, corruption “privatizes what is shared, converts the commonwealth into private advantage, and allows one person to flourish by making many others poorer,” adding that the EFCC’s role was to defend the integrity of the commonwealth.

Olukoyede said Christianity and Islam could retain their distinctive beliefs and traditions while their adherents worked together to promote peace, justice, human dignity and national wellbeing.

He said the EFCC had been engaging religious leaders through an interfaith framework to encourage them to incorporate anti-corruption messages into their sermons and teachings.

“We have been doing this through the inter-faith 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.

The EFCC chairman said the Commission had also worked with Christian and Muslim leaders over the years to develop an Interfaith Manual outlining the doctrinal positions of the holy books on corruption.

“We are using this opportunity to launch the Manual which we hope our religious leaders will surely find useful in preaching anti-corruption messages to their members,” he said.

Olukoyede stressed that corruption and financial crimes had no religious or ethnic boundaries, noting that their effects were felt across 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 said.

He cited poor healthcare, deteriorating infrastructure, unemployment and inflation as examples of challenges that affect Nigerians regardless of their religious affiliation.

“We enjoin our pastors and imams to keep faith with the manual and actively engage their members to know why corruption is heinous,” he said.

Olukoyede urged religious institutions to take a more active role in shaping the values and conduct of Nigerians, saying faith communities could help prevent corruption by promoting honesty and challenging the glorification of wealth without regard to its source.

“Religious institutions have extraordinary responsibility in Nigeria’s anti-corruption struggle. 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,” he said.

“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.”