President Bola Tinubu has tasked the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on sustaining the fight against internet crimes and other acts of corruption.

EFCC Head, Media & Publicity, Dele Oyewale, in a press statement, said Tinubu gave the charge in Abuja on Wednesday, at a one-day public engagement on youth, religion and fight against corruption and the launch of Fraud Risk Assessment Project for Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) organised by the EFCC.

He said the president pointed out that cybercrimes was a challenge and slur on the image of the nation and the EFCC should spare no effort in tackling it more frontally.

“Our country is not a nation of fraudsters and the pejorative reference to internet crimes as the “Nigerian scam” across the world is unfair, untenable and unacceptable.

“Cybercrimes, to all intents and purposes, are a global phenomenon. Today’s world is run real time on the internet. Governance, businesses, institutions and even individual domestic affairs are dependent on the internet. Cyber criminals are, therefore, a threat to the rest of the world.

“This is why no effort or expense should be spared in confronting the evil. I want to assure the EFCC that the government will continue to offer its support in its quest to kill the dragon that internet offences have become”, he said.

Tinubu, who spoke through Vice President Kashim Shettima, expressed government’s determination to give corruption hard tackles, stressing that “we cannot be focused on growth and development and at the same time offer any breathing space to corrupt practices.

“No nation grows without breaking the fangs of corruption. The EFCC has been duly instructed to do its job at all times without any extraneous considerations. The Renewed Hope agenda of our government is impervious to corruption. We should all join hands together to move Nigeria in a new direction of purpose.”

The EFCC’s Chairman, Ola Olukoyede, in his opening remark, took a retrospective look at the efforts and profile of the commission in tackling the monster of corruption, and noted that the un-abating trend of corrupt practices across the country, despite anti-corruption crusade, called for concerns.

To address the situation, he called for greater emphasis on prevention of crimes through well-thought-out and coordinated efforts of the commission.

“Indeed, proactive implementation of effective and coordinated policies against corruption remains the best guarantee for public security, economic development, and the effective functioning of public and private institutions.

“The recalibration of the Commission’s prevention strategy seeks to promote proactive deterrence and greater inclusivity in terms of participation of all stakeholders. Our motivation is to see how corruption, whether in ministries and agencies of government, in the ivory towers, or the private sector, could be prevented before it occurs,” he said.

In his remarks, Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, urged the EFCC to intensify its preventive method,which according to him, was cheaper and easier.

“I believe that concerted efforts should be channeled towards the preventive aspect of the commission’s mandate as it is cheaper and easier to prevent crimes.

“The commission’s mandate is beyond investigation and prosecution of financial crimes which it had over the years pursued vigorously. The cost of investigating and prosecuting all species of financial crimes will significantly reduce with adequate preventive measures in place.”