The President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu has appointed Ola Olukoyede as Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
This was announced in a statement by the Presidential spokesman, Ajuri Ngelale on Thursday, October 12.
According to Ngelale, Olukoyede’s appointment is for a renewable term of four years in the first instance, pending Senate confirmation.
This is following the resignation of EFCC formal boss, Abdulrasheed Bawa.
Recall that, on June 14, 2023, the President suspended Bawa indefinitely as the anti-graft agency chairman. Tinubu noted that Bawa was suspended “to allow for proper investigation into his conduct while in office”. The action followed “weighty” allegations of abuse of office levelled against him.
Subsequently, Tinubu asked the Director of Operations at the Commission, Abdulkarim Chukkol, to step in as acting EFCC chair while the Department of State Services (DSS) took Bawa into custody.
However, following Thursday’s designation, Olukoyede assumes the position of the new leader of the commission.
According to the Presidential spokesperson, the President’s choice to designate Olukoyede as the fresh EFCC head was made based on his authority under section 2 (3) of the EFCC (Establishment) Act, 2004.
“Mr. Ola Olukoyede is a lawyer with over twenty-two (22) years of experience as a regulatory compliance consultant and specialist in fraud management and corporate intelligence,” Ngelale said.
“He has extensive experience in the operations of the EFCC, having previously served as Chief of Staff to the Executive Chairman (2016-2018) and Secretary to the Commission (2018-2023). As such, he fulfills the statutory requirement for appointment as Chairman of the EFCC.”
Also, the President approved the appointment of Muhammad Hammajoda to serve as the Secretary of the EFCC for a renewable term of five years in the first instance, pending Senate confirmation.
The President tasked the new leadership of the anti-graft commission to “justify the confidence given to them in this important national assignment as a newly invigorated war on corruption undertaken through a reformed institutional architecture in the anti-corruption sector remains a central pillar of the President’s Renewed Hope agenda”.
