*Photo: Ola Olukoyede*
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) secured 10,872 convictions and recovered over N1.23 trillion and $684.48 million in the first 34 months of the administration of its Executive Chairman, Ola Olukoyede.
Olukoyede disclosed this on Monday in Abuja while presenting his three-year stewardship report, covering the period since he assumed office in October 2023.
He said the commission received 49,673 petitions between October 2023 and July 2026, investigated 39,615 cases, filed 14,476 cases in court and secured 10,872 convictions, representing a conviction-to-filing ratio of 75.1 per cent.
According to him, the EFCC recorded 1,370 convictions from 1,889 filings in the first half of 2026 alone.
He said the commission’s enforcement activities had focused not only on grand corruption but also on cybercrime, advance fee fraud, procurement fraud, bank fraud, economic governance offences and other emerging forms of financial crime.
Olukoyede said data from 2024 to 2026 showed 46,288 offences across nine major typologies, with advance fee fraud and cybercrime accounting for nearly two-thirds of recorded offences.
He added that total recorded offences increased by 24.1 per cent between 2024 and 2025, with significant increases recorded in procurement fraud, bank fraud, cybercrime and economic-governance offences.
The EFCC chairman stressed that the commission had continued to prosecute high-profile cases without regard to the status of suspects.
He listed recent convictions involving former public officials and prominent Nigerians, including Saleh Mamman, Robert Orya and Chukwunyere Nwabuoku.
“The principle is simple: no office or title places anyone beyond the reach of the law,” he said, adding that the commission would continue to investigate professionally, prosecute based on evidence and allow the courts to determine guilt or innocence.
Recoveries
On asset recovery, Olukoyede said the EFCC recovered N1,233,612,040,411.11, $684,478,457.32, £373,905.78 and €9,343,803.66, among other currencies, between October 1, 2023 and June 30, 2026.
He said about N397.26 billion, representing 33 per cent of the naira recoveries, constituted direct recoveries for the Federal Government, while N836.34 billion, or 67 per cent, represented indirect recoveries made on behalf of ministries, departments and agencies, state revenue services, companies, individuals and foreign victims.
According to him, N661.32 billion and $492.37 million were released to beneficiaries during the period.
He explained that about N325.35 billion of the naira releases was paid directly to individuals and corporate bodies, while N335.97 billion was released to MDAs, the Nigerian Revenue Service, state internal revenue services and other public institutions, companies and individuals.
Olukoyede said the commission’s activities also generated significant fiscal value, with federal and state tax recoveries amounting to about N288.1 billion.
He put federal tax recoveries at N173.2 billion and state internal revenue service recoveries at N114.9 billion.
An additional N257.2 billion in naira recoveries, he said, was recorded for federal ministries, departments and agencies.
NELFUND, Credit Corp beneficiaries
The EFCC chairman said proceeds recovered from criminal activities had also been deployed to productive national purposes.
He recalled that the Federal Government in August 2024 directed the allocation of N50 billion each from EFCC recoveries to the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) and the Nigerian Consumer Credit Corporation.
He said additional N50 billion allocations each to NELFUND and the Credit Corporation from EFCC recoveries were subsequently approved in 2026.
Olukoyede also disclosed that a recovered property, NOK University, had been converted into the Federal University of Applied Sciences, Kachia, Kaduna State.
He said 1,909 students matriculated into the university in December 2025, adding that the institution would also contribute to the economic development of Southern Kaduna.
Beyond monetary recoveries, the EFCC secured the forfeiture of 10,053 tangible assets under interim and final court orders between October 2023 and July 2026.
The assets included 8,198 electronic items, 1,177 real estate assets, 370 automobiles and 251 plots of land, as well as schools, factories, hotels, shops, oil rigs, barges, machinery and aircraft.
The commission also secured the forfeiture of 102 tonnes of solid minerals.
Olukoyede said proceeds from the disposal of assets under final forfeiture orders amounted to approximately N12.07 billion and were paid to the Federal Government.
Financial system, grey-list exit
According to the EFCC chairman, the commission’s enforcement activities also contributed to strengthening Nigeria’s anti-money laundering and counter-financing of terrorism framework.
He said Nigeria’s removal from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Grey List in October 2025 was a national achievement to which the EFCC’s casework and enforcement activities contributed.
He further disclosed that the commission recorded 234 cases involving bureaux de change and secured 73 convictions over the past three years.
He said enforcement against unlicensed BDCs was aimed at supporting a more formal and transparent retail foreign-exchange market while closing channels vulnerable to illicit finance, speculation and round-tripping.
Reforms, digitisation
Olukoyede said the EFCC had undertaken significant institutional reforms during his tenure, including new guidelines on arrest and bail, a review of sting operations and the establishment of the Department of Fraud Risk Assessment and Control, Security Department, Immigration and Visa Section and Cybercrime Rapid Response Centre.
He said new directorates had also been established in Ekiti, Anambra and Katsina states, while the Enugu and Ilorin directorates had been commissioned to improve citizens’ access to the commission.
The EFCC chairman said the commission had introduced policies on gifts and hospitality, conflict of interest and exhibit-room security.
He added that the Internal Affairs Department had been renamed and restructured as the Ethics and Integrity Department as part of efforts to strengthen internal accountability.
According to him, about 60 per cent of the commission’s processes and operations have now been digitised.
He identified the new EFCC Academy, the 24/7 Cybercrime Rapid Response Centre and EFCC Radio as among initiatives designed to strengthen the commission’s response to emerging financial crimes.
International cooperation
Olukoyede said the commission’s achievements were supported by collaboration with domestic and international law-enforcement agencies.
He listed the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and INTERPOL among international partners.
He also disclosed that he had been re-elected President of the Network of National Anti-Corruption Institutions in West Africa (NACIWA) for another three-year term.
Looking ahead, Olukoyede said the commission would focus on deepening prevention, ensuring faster restitution, investing in investigative technology and improving professionalism in its engagement with citizens.
“We are not merely counting arrests or announcing recoveries,” he said. “Our responsibility is to convert information and intelligence into prevention, petitions into investigations, investigations into prosecutions, prosecutions into convictions, recoveries into restitution, and enforcement into measurable national value.”
He said although significant progress had been made, the fight against economic and financial crimes was far from over, assuring Nigerians that the commission would continue its work with renewed determination and respect for due process.