The Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Ola Olukoyede, on Tuesday warned that while Artificial Intelligence, AI, offers unprecedented opportunities for strengthening anti-corruption efforts, it also presents new risks by enabling more sophisticated forms of fraud, financial crime and illicit financial flows.
Mr Olukoyede, who is also President of the Network of Anti-Corruption Institutions in West Africa, NACIWA, gave the warning while declaring open a two-day Leadership Conference for Heads of National Anti-Corruption Institutions in West Africa at the ECOWAS Secretariat in Abuja.
He said the rapid advancement of digital technologies and AI had fundamentally altered the corruption landscape, making it imperative for anti-graft agencies across the region to adapt to emerging threats.
According to him, criminal networks now operate seamlessly across borders, while illicit financial flows move through multiple jurisdictions within seconds, making traditional enforcement strategies increasingly inadequate.
“Artificial Intelligence has transformed the way information is generated, analysed and deployed. While it offers enormous potential for detection, intelligence development, risk assessment and institutional efficiency, it also raises important questions of governance, ethics, accountability, data integrity and organisational readiness,” Mr Olukoyede said.
He noted that emerging technologies, while accelerating economic development and digital innovation, were also creating fresh opportunities for fraud, concealment, manipulation and other financial crimes.
The EFCC chairman stressed that anti-corruption institutions must modernise their operational capabilities to match the sophistication of organised criminal networks exploiting digital platforms.
He also underscored the need for stronger regional collaboration, noting that corruption had become increasingly transnational and could no longer be effectively tackled by individual countries acting alone.
Mr Olukoyede said the conference was designed to strengthen leadership capacity among anti-corruption agencies and deepen institutional cooperation across West Africa.
According to him, the gathering demonstrates NACIWA’s commitment to making leadership development, peer learning and institutional capacity building permanent features of regional anti-corruption efforts.
“We are signalling that West African anti-corruption institutions are prepared to take collective responsibility for strengthening the regional integrity architecture,” he said.
He emphasised that effective anti-corruption leadership extends beyond investigation and prosecution to building resilient institutions capable of withstanding political transitions and evolving criminal tactics.
“Our institutions must be built to outlive us. They must have clear systems, credible governance arrangements, professional personnel, reliable technology, institutional memory and cultures that preserve integrity across successive leadership transitions,” he said.
Mr Olukoyede added that anti-graft agencies must remain committed to professionalism, due process, accountability and the rule of law while responding to increasingly complex financial crimes.
Delivering the NACIWA Distinguished Leadership Lecture, the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), said West Africa was at a defining moment where citizens were demanding greater transparency, accountability and stronger public institutions.
He maintained that effective anti-corruption efforts require courageous and visionary leadership capable of strengthening institutional independence and public confidence.
Mr Fagbemi warned that public office should never be regarded as an avenue for personal enrichment, insisting that public officials must always account for the management of public resources.
The conference brought together heads of anti-corruption agencies from across West Africa, including representatives of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, the Code of Conduct Bureau, CCB, and delegates from Ghana, Sierra Leone, Senegal, The Gambia, Togo, Cape Verde and other ECOWAS member states.
Participants are discussing issues ranging from artificial intelligence and digital transformation to institutional independence, intelligence-led investigations, transnational corruption, cross-border cooperation, judicial partnerships, asset recovery and governance reforms.
The maiden NACIWA leadership conference is expected to end with the adoption of the Abuja Leadership Declaration, which will outline shared leadership standards and cooperative actions aimed at strengthening anti-corruption institutions across West Africa.
