Olukoyede hails CreditCorp, says consumer credit reduces corruption risks

The Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede, has praised the Nigerian Consumer Credit Corporation (CreditCorp), saying wider access to consumer credit can significantly reduce corruption and financial crimes in the country.

Olukoyede spoke on Tuesday in Abuja while receiving the Managing Director of CreditCorp, Uzoma Nwagba, and his management team during a courtesy visit to the EFCC headquarters. He said policy reforms remain the most effective strategy for tackling corruption, stressing that law enforcement should only come into play after preventive measures have failed.

Describing the Federal Government’s consumer credit initiative as one of President Bola Tinubu’s most significant legacies, Olukoyede argued that the absence of an effective credit system encourages financial crimes by limiting access to legitimate sources of financing.

He maintained that affordable consumer credit would reduce the temptation for public servants to engage in corrupt practices to meet basic needs such as housing, education, transportation and family welfare. “Policy reform is the best approach in the fight against corruption all over the world. It is when that fails that enforcement comes in,” he said.

According to him, the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has already supported about 1.5 million students through tuition payments and monthly stipends, reducing the number of youths vulnerable to financial crimes.

Olukoyede further disclosed that President Tinubu had approved the release of ₦50 billion each from the EFCC’s Proceeds of Crime Account to CreditCorp and NELFUND to strengthen their intervention programmes. He urged CreditCorp to ensure transparency in the use of the funds.

Earlier, CreditCorp Managing Director Uzoma Nwagba thanked the EFCC for its support, disclosing that the corporation had disbursed about ₦47 billion in consumer credit to more than 301,000 Nigerians within two years while maintaining a 100 per cent repayment rate with no non-performing loans.

Nwagba added that CreditCorp was working with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to build a national credit infrastructure linked to the National Identification Number (NIN) and was expanding credit programmes for youths, women, pensioners and persons with disabilities, including financing 10,000 women to acquire commercial tricycles.