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President Bola Tinubu has named Ola Olukoyede as the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The announcement was made by Presidential spokesman Ajuri Ngelale in a statement on Thursday.
Ngelale clarified that Olukoyede’s appointment is for an initial renewable term of four years, subject to Senate confirmation.
Over the last few months, the leadership of the nation’s foremost anti-corruption agency has undergone significant changes since the President’s assumption of office on May 29, 2023.
On June 14, 2023, the President indefinitely suspended Abdulrasheed Bawa from his position as the head of the anti-graft agency. Bawa’s suspension was enacted “to facilitate a thorough investigation into his conduct while in office” following “serious” allegations of abuse of office.
In response, the President directed Abdulkarim Chukkol, the Director of Operations at the Commission, to serve as the acting EFCC Chairman while the Department of State Services (DSS) took Bawa into custody.
With the recent appointment on Thursday, Olukoyede assumes the role of the new head of the commission.
Presidential spokesman Ngelale pointed out that the President’s decision to appoint Olukoyede as the new EFCC boss is based on the authority vested in him under section 2(3) of the EFCC (Establishment) Act, 2004.
“Mr. Ola Olukoyede is a legal professional with over twenty-two (22) years of experience as a regulatory compliance consultant and specialist in fraud management and corporate intelligence,” Ngelale stated.
“He boasts 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). He thus fulfills the statutory requirements for the appointment as Chairman of the EFCC.”
Furthermore, Ngelale conveyed that Olukoyede’s appointment was necessitated by Bawa’s resignation.
In addition to Olukoyede’s appointment, the President has also given his approval for Muhammad Hammajoda to serve as the Secretary of the EFCC, for an initial renewable term of five years, pending Senate confirmation.
“Mr. Muhammad Hassan Hammajoda is a public administrator with significant experience in public finance management, holding a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from the University of Maiduguri and a Masters in Business Administration from the same institution,” Ngelale noted.
“He began his career as a lecturer at the Federal Polytechnic, Mubi, and later moved into banking, with successful tenures at the defunct Allied Bank and Standard Trust Bank.”
The President charged the new leadership of the anti-graft commission to demonstrate their competence and justify the trust placed in them for this vital national role. The battle against corruption, carried out through a reformed institutional framework in the anti-corruption sector, remains a central pillar of the President’s Renewed Hope agenda.
