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Ola Olukoyede: Sailing Through The Storm

By Shina Philips

“Since assuming office, Olukoyede has expectedly and unsurprisingly been in the eye of the storm. Anti-graft fighting is always a difficult and delicate issue in any terrain. There is a burden of expectation that comes with occupying the position.”

Establishing the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) by an Act of the National Assembly on December 12, 2002, and subsequent amendment in 2004 remains Nigeria’s boldest and most significant step towards achieving a graft-free society. However, notwithstanding this move, corruption continues to afflict the country like a malignant tumour requiring more than a simple surgical operation to stop its growth.

It should be noted that, besides the fact that the creation of the Commission had been an expedient necessity for the nation, it was also partly in response to pressure from the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering, also more commonly known by its French name, Grouped’action financière, which had listed Nigeria as one of its non-cooperative countries and territories. In 2006, shortly after the operation of the Commission kicked off, FATF removed Nigeria from the list.

The coming of the EFCC was, indeed, a relieving breather. Corruption has been a major national headache since independence. In 2012, Dr. Oby Ezekwesili, a former Education Minister and a former World Bank Vice President for Africa, reported that Nigeria had lost up to $400 billion of its revenue to corruption since 1960. This amount could have conveniently paid off the nation’s debt to the Paris Club (which was eventually paid off in October 2005) and provided needed infrastructure to accelerate the country’s progress towards industrialisation and self-sufficiency.

The EFCC began with a bang. Its pioneer chairman, Mallam Nuru Ribadu, a senior police officer, moved swiftly against many hitherto invincible corruption kingpins who had been on free rein on the scene. Many of them were arrested, tried, and successfully convicted. Backed by the media and encouraged by the political will of President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration, the EFCC made substantial progress against corruption and corrupt government officials and individuals.

Expectedly, and most significantly, there have been criticisms against the Commission’s use of the media to try suspects, even before they were arraigned in court. However, the media attention it created and enjoyed had a substantial positive effect on the country’s corruption perception index.

In 2014, Transparency International (TI), an international association set up to combat global corruption, ranked Nigeria 136, up from 144 in 2013. In 2020, the country’s ranking had climbed to 149, signalling that in spite of the tireless and relentless activities of the EFCC, the country needed a new approach in the fight against financial and economic crimes.

Over the years, the choice of an Executive Chairman to lead the anti-graft agency has attracted national attention because of its consequences. First, the choice signals the intention and determination of the political administration in power and, secondly, because the Executive Chairman is the arrowhead of the agency’s anti-corruption drive. It is in light of this that Barrister Ola Olukayode’s appointment becomes most significant because of its consequence on the fight against corruption.

Barrister Ola Olukoyede’s Appointment

Ola Olukoyede emerged as the fifth Executive Chairman of the EFCC following his appointment by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on October 12, 2023. He became the first person from the southern part of Nigeria to serve as Executive Chairman of the Commission. Also of note is that he is the first Executive Chairman of the EFCC without a police background or cadet training from the Commission. AIG Mallam Nuhu Ribadu (rtd, 2003-2007); AIG Farida Waziri (rtd, 2008-2011); DIG Ibrahim Lamorde (rtd; 2012-2015); and AIG Ibrahim Magu (rtd, 2015-2012) served the Commission as serving police officers, except AIG Farida, who was already retired before her appointment. Olukoyede’s immediate predecessor, Abdulrasheed Bawa (2021-2023), was the first cadet-trained officer of the Commission to be appointed Executive Chairman.

Olukoyede is eminently qualified to lead the Commission. He has 22 years of experience in law practice, compliance management, corporate intelligence, and fraud management. Before joining the EFCC as Secretary of the Commission in 2018, he had worked as a lawyer at the law firm of former Vice President Yemi Osinbajo (SAN). He is an alumnus of the Lagos State University; University of Lagos; Institute of Arbitration ICC,  Paris, France; and the University of Harvard (Kennedy School of Executive Education) and a member of the Fraud Advisory Panel (UK). Olukoyede is also a pastor at the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG).

Sailing Through The Storm

Since assuming office, Olukoyede has expectedly and unsurprisingly been in the eye of the storm. Anti-graft fighting is always a difficult and delicate issue in any terrain. There is a burden of expectation that comes with occupying the position. He will be hated by the corrupt and treated with suspicion by many. The Chairman is always overburdened with a load of expectations. His first unspoken responsibility is to prove he is not an appendage of the Presidency. The political class, including members of the ruling party, expect to be treated with kid gloves. People expect him to be brutal in his approach by hounding suspects into detention without respect for the rule of law. These issues are typical of the position of the nation’s head of its anti-graft agency.

Raids Of Yahoo Boys Hideouts

Over the years, one of EFCC’s major focusses in the anti-graft war is the menace of online scammers. It was therefore not surprising when the Commission raided some hotels in Akure, Ondo State and Lagos State accommodating suspected Yahoo Boys in June 2024.

Nigerians have a culture of hard work and integrity. There is, however, a small set of people who have entrenched themselves in online scams, popularly called Yahoo Yahoo. The phenomenon is so concerning that some Nigerians with shady characters have been arrested and are serving prison terms in foreign countries. Additionally, the average Nigerian traveller is wrongly profiled, leading to embarrassing treatment in the hands of immigration officers and other law enforcement agents.

The increase in the number of these cases has been a source of worry to all Nigerians. The initial raids on the hideouts of the ‘boys’ were greeted with a lot of criticisms, some of these very well justified. Claims of operatives’ high handedness resulting in injuries to innocent citizens and damage to properties of hotel management have probably slowed down these raids. We expected, in strategy, rather a slow down of the onslaught against online criminals.

Putting Religious Leaders On The Spot

On July 14, 2024, Olukoyede, a pastor himself, at a Redeemed Christian Church of God leadership conference in Lagos, revealed that his organisation recently recovered “many millions from a religious organisation”. Earlier in January 2024, the Commission claimed it uncovered a religious sect laundering money for terrorists in Nigeria. The Chairman has received media attacks for daring to call out religious leaders. Well-meaning Nigerians must stand with the Commission if the country is determined to combat corruption. Graft is an evil which affects us all and any fight against the menace must be embraced by all.

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