RismadarVoice Reporters
August 31, 2026
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has dismissed more than 40 members of its staff over alleged corruption and financial misconduct since Ola Olukoyede assumed office as chairman.
Olukoyede disclosed this on Monday during a briefing at the commission’s headquarters in Abuja, where he reviewed the EFCC’s activities under his leadership.
According to him, more than five of the dismissed personnel are currently facing prosecution, while case files involving others are being prepared for possible 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.
The EFCC chairman stressed that the commission would not protect its officers from prosecution when they were found to have engaged in corrupt practices.
He questioned why EFCC personnel who commit offences should merely be dismissed when the commission routinely arrests, investigates and prosecutes members of the public for similar conduct.
Olukoyede said some of the cases involving former EFCC personnel were already before the courts, while investigations and preparations for prosecution were ongoing in other cases.
He also announced that the commission had changed the name of its former Department of Internal Affairs to the Department of Ethics and Integrity.
According to him, the restructuring is part of efforts to strengthen internal accountability and promote what he described as an “internal cleansing” within the commission.
Olukoyede further disclosed that the EFCC had introduced a gift policy for its personnel as part of measures to improve transparency and accountability.
Under the policy, officers would be required to declare gifts above a specified threshold, including those received from relatives abroad.
The commission would also establish categories of gifts that personnel could legitimately accept, he said.
Olukoyede said the measures were designed to ensure that officers could properly account for their sources of income, gifts 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,” he said.
