RismadarVoice Reporters
September 22, 2026
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has said its anti-corruption enforcement and accountability efforts will increasingly extend to Nigeria’s local government system as more public resources flow to the third tier of government.
EFCC Chairman Ola Olukoyede stated this on Tuesday in Abuja at the maiden Annual National Conference of Local Government Council Chairmen and Traditional Rulers Councils.
Olukoyede, who was represented by the Director, Public Affairs Department and Commander of the EFCC (CE), Wilson Uwujaren, said the Commission’s commitment to transparency and accountability would not be limited to the federal level.
He said increased resources available to local governments should translate into measurable improvements in the lives of people at the grassroots.
According to him, the EFCC would pay closer attention to accountability at the sub-national level while ensuring that its enforcement activities remain guided by evidence and due process.
Olukoyede said no public office or title should place anyone beyond the reach of the law, but stressed that anti-corruption enforcement must respect the constitutional role of the courts in determining guilt or innocence.
The EFCC Chairman also highlighted the use of recovered proceeds of crime for public programmes.
He said the Federal Government had directed ₦50 billion each from recovered funds to the Nigerian Education Loan Fund and the Nigerian Consumer Credit Corporation, with additional funding subsequently approved.
Olukoyede also cited the conversion of the forfeited former NOK University in Kaduna State into the Federal University of Applied Sciences, Kachia, saying the institution had enrolled 1,909 students by December 2025.
On security, the EFCC Chairman said economic crimes and national security threats were increasingly interconnected.
He identified terrorist financing, illegal mining, cross-border cybercrime and money laundering among areas requiring sustained enforcement attention.
According to figures presented by Olukoyede, the Commission’s specialised enforcement portfolio had recorded 920 cases and 212 convictions, with further investigations and prosecutions continuing in areas including money laundering, terrorist financing, illegal mining and virtual-assets fraud.
He also said nearly 60 per cent of the EFCC’s processes and operations had been digitalised as the Commission continued investing in investigative technology and its Cybercrime Rapid Response Centre.
Olukoyede disclosed that between October 2023 and the period covered by the Commission’s recent stewardship account, the EFCC recorded recoveries exceeding ₦1.233 trillion, alongside approximately $684.48 million, £373,905.78 and €9.34 million.
He said roughly two-thirds of the naira recoveries were returned to ministries, departments and agencies, state revenue services, companies and individuals.
Federal and state tax recoveries during the period, according to the EFCC Chairman, amounted to approximately ₦288.1 billion.
Olukoyede added that about ₦661.32 billion and $492.37 million had been released to beneficiaries, including individuals, companies, government institutions and revenue authorities.
He said asset recovery should go beyond seizure, arguing that recovered resources achieve greater public value when returned to legitimate beneficiaries or channelled into productive national purposes.
Turning to local government administrators, Olukoyede urged council chairmen to make accountability a practical part of governance as financial resources available to councils increase.
He said the EFCC was also strengthening its internal accountability framework through measures including new arrest and bail guidelines and conflict-of-interest safeguards.
Olukoyede further linked Nigeria’s removal from the Financial Action Task Force grey list in October 2025 to sustained reforms involving several government institutions, saying stronger financial controls could improve Nigeria’s international reputation and investor confidence.
At the conference, President Bola Tinubu also reiterated his administration’s position that development should be driven from the grassroots rather than concentrated at the federal level.
Represented by Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume, Tinubu said the government’s objective was to bring governance closer to citizens, widen access to essential services and create additional centres of local development.
The President called for improvements in primary healthcare, basic education, rural roads, safe water, food systems, support for small businesses and opportunities for women and young people across Nigeria’s local government areas.
He said sustainable national development required effective governance from the grassroots upward, with local councils playing a central role in translating public resources into services that directly improve the lives of citizens.
