Tag: EFCC

Amid intense lobbying, the Senate will today screen  Olanipekun Olukoyede as the new chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

President Bola Tinubu had in a letter to Senate President Godswill Akpabio on last week asked for the clearance of  Olukoyede as the anti-graft agency’s boss for a renewable four-year term.

The appointment came nearly four months after Abdulrasheed Bawa was suspended as EFCC’s chairman. The ex-boss later resigned.

Olukoyede’s choice as EFCC’s head, however, elicited objection from some people, who alleged that it breached a section of the Federal Character Commission Act (FCC) 

The Presidency and the Senate leadership swung into action last night to convince Senators opposed to his appointment.

They were also said to have told such senators that the appointment was in line with the EFCC  (Establishment) Act 2004.

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Sources close to the Senate said that Olukoyede, a former secretary of the commission, was invited for the screening after undergoing security clearance.

One of the sources, who did not want his name in print, said: “All is set for the screening of the new EFCC chairman. Having been in receipt of a letter from President Bola  Tinubu,  the Senate has invited Olukoyede to face its members on his vision, mission and why he should be cleared.

“Senators will thereafter interact with him on anti-graft policy and why it is difficult to tackle corruption in the country.”

Some of the issues that have cropped up since Olukoyede’s appointment are the interpretation of Section 2 of the EFCC Establishment Act 2004, his eligibility for the job, the report of Justice Isa Ayo Salami’s panel on EFCC and the Presidency’s compliance with the federal character principle since  ICPC chairman, Bolaji Owasanoye, is also from the Southwest.

However, President appointed a new ICPC chairman from the Northeast geo-political zone yesterday.

Another source, who also asked not to be named said: “In line with parliamentary culture, there has been intensified lobbying on the sterling qualities of Olukoyede. His choice was the outcome of a painstaking search for a capable hand to give the anti-corruption war a new outlook and reform the commission

“There is no doubt that some Senators have some misgivings but all issues were being addressed ahead of the screening.”

The Presidency had insisted that President   Tinubu approved Olukoyede’s appointment in line with Section 2(3) of the   Act establishing the EFCC.

It said: “ Olukoyede was the Chief of Staff to the Executive Chairman of the EFCC (2016-2018) and Secretary of the commission(2018-2020). He was a member of a law enforcement organisation as Secretary, in this case, the EFCC, as stipulated in the EFCC Act, and as such satisfies every legal detail to be appointed as chairman.

“Section 2(1)(p) of the EFCC Act plainly, ordinarily, and unambiguously established the secretary to the commission as its member and head of its administration.

“It is also unambiguous by the provisions of subparagraph (iii) that once a person possessed  15 years of such cognate (i.e. similar or alike) experience, then he has satisfied the provisions of subparagraph (iii) of section 2(1)(a) of the EFCC Act.

“It is clear from the unambiguous provisions of the EFCC Establishment Act, 2004, that any member of the Commission whether serving or retired who has 15 years’ cognate experience in their chosen career is eligible to be appointed as the chairman of the commission.

“Prior to this time, the convention and precedence, is that to be qualified for appointment as the executive chairman of the commission, the nominee must be a police officer or someone with a law enforcement background, particularly in the area of investigation.

“This has not only exposed the commission to all manner of vices but has brewed internal wrangling, discontent, and hatred among the members of staff of the Commission.

“It is non-justiciable to elevate convention above statutory provision.

“It is time to move away from fiction to fact and from convention to strict adherence to the statutory provisions of the enabling Act of the commission in our constitutional democracy.”

A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, Osita Okechukwu, has charged the new chairman of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Olanipekun Olukoyede, to help return billions of dollars looted from Nigeria’s commonwealth and stashed abroad in foreign banks.

Okechukwu said this in a statement on Sunday, October 15, in Abuja.

President Bola Tinubu last week nominated Olukoyede as chairman of the EFCC subject to the confirmation of the Senate.

Olukoyede served as chief of staff to the chairman of the EFCC and secretary to the commission at various times between 2016 and 2020.

The appointment has however been opposed by some persons who said he does not possess the 15 years cognate experience required in section 2(a)(ii) of EFCC establishment law.

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But speaking in a statement, Okechukwu appealed to those against the appointment of Olukoyede as the new chairman of the EFCC to sheath their swords.

Okechukwu, a foundation member of the APC and Director – General of the Voice of Nigeria, said Olukoyede’s traducers should calm down, stressing that the appointment of the former EFCC secretary was a game changer for anti-graft crusade, going by Olukoyode’s antecedents.

The APC chieftain maintained that it was not unusual for controversy to erupt after the appointment to an important and strategic office like the chairman of EFCC, with regard to whether the appointment conforms with extant laws.

Okechukwu called for caution, saying, “One has carefully taken a cursory analysis of the raging debate and came to the inevitable conclusion that Ola Olukoyede’s traducers had forgotten the famous and ageless maxim of the foremost physician of all time Albert Einstein – “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”

The statement said: “Corollary, the truism is that Olukoyede’s appointment comes as a remedy, because EFCC was formed to provide an alternative front for higher performance in waging the Herculean anti-graft war crusade.

“Therefore, his appointment from the fraud angle of the noble legal profession is an appropriate alternative strategy for reforms. Doing otherwise is akin to doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

“As the intendment of the law is that emphasis should be laid on cognate experience. The reforms contemplated by the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Tinubu can only be achieved under an informed insider with requisite legal tools, not a learner. That, to me, is the essential thrust of Olukoyede’s appointment.”

Okechukwu said Nigerians should expect better results from Olukoyede, even as he urged the new EFCC chairman to always stand against the temptation of media trial but conclude diligent investigations before exposing criminal suspects.

He admonished Olukoyede to ensure that EFCC operatives embark on investigations with fine tooth comb to fish out billions of dollars looted from Nigeria’s commonwealth and stashed abroad in foreign banks.

He noted: “Having served as member of the Technical Committee of the Presidential Advisory Council on Corruption, as well as member of the Technical Committee on the Repositioning of the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU); Olukoyede should insist that his men uses fine tooth combs to fish out billions of dollars stashed abroad.

“These monies could help to bail Nigerians out of economic quagmire and debt burden. Common-sense dictates that it cannot be only Gen Abacha’s loot that are hidden in foreign banks. I therefore appeal to Olukoyede’s traducers to sheathe their swords and assist him with ideas to make EFCC deliver on its lofty mandates.”

President Bola Tinubu has appointed Ola Olukoyede as Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for a renewable term of four years pending the Senate’s confirmation

Here are six things to know about the new EFCC chairman

1. Ola Olukoyede hails from Ekiti State

2. He is a lawyer with over twenty-two (22) years of experience.

3. He has served as a regulatory compliance consultant and specialist in fraud management and corporate intelligence.

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4. Mr. Ola Olukoyede has extensive experience in the operations of the EFCC

5. He has previously served as Chief of Staff to the Executive Chairman (2016-2018)

6. He also served as a secretary to the Commission (2018-2023). As such, he fulfills the statutory requirement for appointment as Chairman of the EFCC.