PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu has appointed Ola Olukoyede as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) chairman.
This was disclosed in a statement on Thursday, October 12, by the President’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale.
Olukoyede’s appointment follows the resignation of the suspended Executive Chairman of the EFCC, Abdulrasheed Bawa.
He is the first head of the EFCC from Nigeria’s South since its creation 20 years ago.
The ICIR reports that none of the previous five substantive Chairmen of the Commission finished his or her tenure. They were all sacked. The Commission’s pioneer Chairman is the incumbent National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu.
Part of the statement read, “By the powers vested in President Bola Tinubu as established in section 2 (3) of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (Establishment) Act, 2004, that the Chairman and members of the Commission, other than ex-officio members, shall be appointed by the President, President Tinubu has approved the appointment of Mr. Ola Olukoyede to serve as the Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for a renewable term of four years in the first instance, pending Senate confirmation.
“Mr. Ola Olukoyede is a lawyer with over twenty-two (22) years of experience as a regulatory compliance consultant and specialist in fraud management and corporate intelligence. He has 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). As such, he fulfils the statutory requirement for appointment as Chairman of the EFCC.”
Ajuri also disclosed that Tinubu approved the appointment of Muhammad Hassan Hammajoda to serve as the Commission’s Secretary pending Senate confirmation.
Hammajoda is a public administrator with extensive experience in public finance management. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from the University of Maiduguri and a Masters in Business Administration from the same university.
He began his career as a lecturer at the Federal Polytechnic, Mubi. From there, he switched to banking, including successful stints at the defunct Allied Bank and Standard Trust Bank.
The ICIR reported in June that the DSS detained Bawa and the suspended governor of the Central Bank Of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele.
While Emiefele, who was arrested about the same time as Bawa by the Secret Service, was charged to court, Bawa has not been seen in any court of law since his arrest.
Nurudeen Akewushola is an investigative reporter and fact-checker with The ICIR. He believes courageous in-depth investigative reporting is the key to social justice, accountability and good governance in society. You can reach him via [email protected] and @NurudeenAkewus1 on Twitter.