On assumption of office three years ago, the Executive Chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Olanipekun Olukoyede, promised to do things differently, assuring Nigerians of his readiness to fight financial crimes and other acts of fraud without fear or favour.

About 34 months after, he was elated that although more works are still ongoing, he has, nevertheless, kept the agenda of proper focusing on the commission’s mandate in the interests of Nigerians.

This commitment, he said, has culminated in the recovery of a staggering sum of N1.233 trillion proceeds of fraud and other criminal activities.
 
Noting that assets recovery has been one of the major pillars of his stewardship, Olukoyede put other figures recovered between October 1, 2023, and June 30 this year at $684.478,457.32, £373,905.78, €9,343,803.66, in addition to recoveries in other currencies.
 
He made the revelation at a media forum to present his stewardship early in the week. The EFCC head told Nigerians that he took the appointment with a clear commitment and that through sustained enforcement, institutional reforms and stronger collaboration with partners within and outside the country, the commission under his watch, has consistently been on the path of progress.
Olukoyede revealed that the inroads achieved have helped in stimulating growth in the economy and have gradually helped to rebuild the image of the country while optimizing foreign direct investments.
 
“Today, I want to place before Nigerians the measurable outcomes of that work, what those outcomes mean for our economy and financial system, and the direction in which the Commission is moving.”
 
He disclosed that between October 2023 and July this year, the Commission received 49,673 petitions, investigated 39,615 cases, filed 14,476 cases in court and secured 10,872 convictions, bringing a conviction-to-filing ratio to 75.1 per cent. In the first quarter of this year, the EFCC boss said the commission recorded 1,370 convictions, indicating frightening spike in criminal activities across the country.
 
“These results reflect diligence, resilience and a prosecutorial approach anchored on evidence and courtroom outcomes”, he added.

More frightening, however, is the disclosure of a shifting trends in financial crimes. According to the Commission, the number of petitions and case analysis indicated an increase in Advance Fee Fraud popularly known as 419 as well as cybercrime, both of which he said, represented two-third of all recorded offenses.
 
He said: “Our 2024 to 2026 year-to-date category data recorded 46,288 offences across nine major typologies. Advance fee fraud and cybercrime together, represented nearly two-thirds of recorded offences.  
 
“However, between 2024 and 2025, total recorded offences rose by 24.1 per cent, with notable increases in procurement fraud, bank fraud, cybercrime and economic-governance offences.”

According to the E.C, the statistics implies that the fight against economic and financial crime is not only about grand corruption but include majorly, cyber enabled crimes.
 
He expressed worries that a financial institution can be brought down in a minute by cyber criminals if drastic measures are not taken to address the trend.

“Every day, we are protecting citizens, businesses and institutions from fraud, cyber-enabled crime and other forms of economic exploitation.
 
In what he termed, ‘Accountability without status exception’, the chairman boasted that the days of sacred cows were over in the country as the commission continues to pursue complex and high-profile matters without regard to status.   
 
These he stated, include ex-governors, ministers and other public office holders, heads of agencies, financial-sector operators and corporate officials.
 
Recently, the commission secured convictions of some high-profile Nigerians, including former Minister of Power, Saleh Mamman, who was handed 75 years jail term over N33.8 million fraud; former Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian Export-Import Bank (NEXIM), Robert Orya, who was jailed 490 years over N2.4 billion fraud and former Acting Accountant General, Chukwunyere Nwabuoku, jailed 72 years for money laundering.
 
“The principle is simple – no office or title places anyone beyond the reach of the law. We will continue to investigate professionally, prosecute on the strength of evidence and allow the courts to determine guilt or innocence.”
 
Moreso, the commission said it recorded 920 cases with 212 convictions secured on crimes involving money laundering, unlicensed Bureaux de Change, illegal mining, virtual assets and terrorist financing, with money laundering and unlicensed Bureau de Change cases accounting for the largest share of the portfolio.
 
Also, while approximately N397.26billion (33 per cent) of the naira recovery represented direct recoveries for the federal government, the sum of N836.34billion being 67 per cent of the amount, represented indirect recoveries made on behalf of ministries, departments and agencies, state revenue services, companies, individuals and foreign victims.

Olukoyede however believed that recovery can only truly meaningful when it is not re-looted but used to fund critical sectors of the economy or to rightful beneficiaries.  
 
For instance, the EFCC head informed that in August 2024, the federal government directed that N50 billion each be allocated to the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) and Nigerian Consumer Credit Corporation from proceeds of crime recovered by the EFCC.
 
“Further NELFUND and Credit Corp funding from EFCC recoveries (50Billion Naira each) was subsequently approved in 2026.
 
A recovered property, NOK University was converted to a Federal University of Applied Sciences, Kachia, Kaduna State, where a total of 1,909 students matriculated in December 2025.
 
“These are students, who ordinarily would not have been afforded the opportunity of tertiary education. We can also imagine the impact of the institution on the local economy of Southern Kaduna. In addition, another Private university of High-Value has just been finally forfeited to the Federal Government.”
 
Also, the sum of N661.32 billion and $492.37 million were released to beneficiaries, including about N325.35 billion paid directly to individuals and corporate bodies while N335.97 billion was released to various Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), Nigerian Revenue Service and States internal revenue services, alongside releases to other public institutions, companies and individuals.
 
“When recovered criminal value helps finance education and household credit, enforcement moves beyond punishment to restoration and productive national use,” he said.
 
He added that the federal and state tax recoveries amounted to approximately N288.1 billion over the period, including about N173.2 billion in federal tax recoveries and N114.9 billion attributed to States’ Internal Revenue Services. This was achieved through the revenue mobilisation mandate of the commission.
 
“This is fiscal value recovered through enforcement of existing obligations, not through the imposition of new taxes. In addition, approximately N257.2 billion in naira recoveries were recorded for federal Ministries, Departments and Agencies, demonstrating how anti-corruption enforcement can reinforce the revenue capacity of the government.
 
For the EFCC boss, the result of anti-corruption fight shows that corruption enforcement can restore fiscal space, strengthen federal and sub-national revenue, and return working capital to institutions, companies and citizens
 
Beyond serving as deterrent, he believed that every recovery, prosecution and conviction also support financial-market integrity, protect the extractive and digital economies and strengthen the country’s international credibility.
 
Beyond cash, the commission has equally secured the forfeiture of 10,053 tangible assets under interim and final court orders between October 2023 and July 2026. These, according to the commission, included 8,198 electronic items, 1,177 real-estate assets, 370 automobiles, 251 plots of land as well as schools, factories, hotels, shops, oil rigs, barges, 102 tonnes of solid minerals, machinery and aircraft.
 
Proceeds from disposal under final forfeiture orders amounted to approximately N12.07 billion and were paid to the Federal Government.
 
Another gain of Olukoyede anti-graft war is restoring the integrity of the country’s financial system and attendant exit from grey list. Nigeria was removed from the Financial Action Task Force Grey List in October 2025.
 
“Sustained enforcement in money laundering, terrorist financing asset freezing and confiscation, virtual assets and other higher-risk sectors formed part of Nigeria’s wider national effort to address deficiencies in the anti-money laundering and counter-financing of terrorism framework”, he said. 
 
In the foreign-exchange market, the commission said its enforcement against unlicensed Bureaux de Change reinforced the regulatory reforms by the Central Bank of Nigeria, stressing that the commission recorded 234 BDC cases and 73 convictions within the last three years.
 
“The overarching objective is to support a more formal, transparent and compliant retail foreign-exchange market and close channels vulnerable to illicit finance, speculation and round tripping. This has improved macroeconomic stability with long-term benefits for the average citizen
 
Admitting that the milestones recorded by the commission over the past three years may not have been possible without the support of partners, Olukoyede said that considering the fact that organised crime is increasing in sophistication and cut across national borders and jurisdiction, it requires the cooperation of international law enforcement organisations.
 
“At the EFCC, collaboration is central to our mandate. Domestically, we work with law-enforcement agencies, regulators, the judiciary, ministries, departments and agencies, and state revenue authorities.
 
“Internationally, our cooperation extends to partners including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, INTERPOL and other national and international law-enforcement agencies.

“The Commission credited its achievements partly to strengthening reform and restructuring at the institutional level, which include new guidelines on arrest and bail, a review of sting operations, the establishment of the Department of Fraud Risk Assessment and Control, the Security Department, the Immigration and Visa Section as well as the Cybercrime Rapid Response Centre.”

According to the E.C, commissioning of Enugu and Ilorin Directorates and established of new Directorates in Ekiti, Anambra and Katsina States, were instrumental to improving citizens’ access to the commission.
 
“We also instituted policies on gifts and hospitality, conflict of interest and exhibit-room security. We have renamed and restructured the Internal Affairs Department to the Ethics and Integrity Department to reflect our commitment to Internal Cleansing.
 
“At the same time, we are investing heavily in digitalization projects. Currently, almost 60 per cent of our processes and operations have been digitalised with sustained investment in innovation.

In all, the EFCC head said his responsibility transcends counting arrests or announcing recoveries but to ensure that intelligence translates into prevention, petitions into investigations and investigations into prosecutions.

While he scores himself high, he said his goal is to deepen prevention, ensure faster restitution, invest in better investigative technology and improved professionalism in the commission’s engagement with citizens.
 
“We will intensify the fight against corruption and economic crime with respect for due process and unrelenting focus on measurable value for the public,” Olukoyede said.