The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede, on Monday disclosed that no fewer than 40 staff members of the anti-graft agency have been dismissed for corruption and financial malpractice in the past three years.
Olukoyede spoke at the EFCC headquarters in Abuja during a briefing on the achievements of the commission under his leadership.
He said the commission had also commenced the prosecution of more than five of the affected staff members while case files involving others are being prepared for prosecution.
“In the past two and a half years or three years of my service, I’ve asked them to dismiss over 40 staff on account of corruption and financial malpractice. More than five of them are being prosecuted at the moment,” Olukoyede said.
“Because if that is what people do in other agencies and I arrest them, I investigate them, I prosecute them, why must I just dismiss you if you do it within our own system and I’m not prosecuting you?”
Olukoyede also disclosed that the commission had renamed its erstwhile department of internal affairs as the department of ethics and integrity.
He said the change was made to reflect the commission’s commitment to “internal cleansing.”
The EFCC chairman noted that the commission had designed a gift policy for its personnel as part of measures to strengthen accountability within the agency.
According to Olukoyede, staff members would be required to declare assets valued above a specified threshold, including gifts received from relatives abroad.
He said the commission would determine the types of gifts that personnel can accept, adding that the policy would help ensure staff can account for their means of livelihood and standard of living.
“You must be sure that your hands are clean. You can’t be fighting corruption when your hands are soiled with corrupt practices,” Olukoyede added.
Speaking further, the EFCC boss revealed that the commission recovered N1.233 trillion between October 2023 and July 2026, as part of its enforcement drive.
He also reported $684.48 million in recoveries during the 34-month period, spanning 16 currencies, while 10,872 convictions were secured from 14,476 cases filed.
Of the naira recoveries, N397.26 billion was classified as direct recovery for the Federal Government, while N836.35 billion was recovered for individuals, corporate bodies and government agencies.
