₦airaland Forum

EFCC PRESS RELEASE: Ola Olukoyede is New EFCC Chairman

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved the appointment of Mr. Ola Olukoyede as the Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.

The President also approved the appointment of Muhammad Hammajoda as Secretary of the EFCC on a renewable term of five years.

Olukoyede takes over from Mr. Abdulkarim Chukkol who has served as the Acting Chairman of the EFCC.

Before his appointment, he has previously served as Chief of Staff to the former Acting Executive Chairman, Mr. Ibrahim Magu and Secretary to the Commission.

Olukoyede is a seasoned lawyer with over twenty-two (22) years experience. He is a regulatory compliance consultant and specialist in fraud management and corporate intelligence with extensive experience in the operations of the EFCC.

Hammajoda is the current Director of Finance and Accounts of the EFCC before his appointment as Secretary of the Commission. He is also a public administrator with extensive experience in public finance management.

He holds a Bachelor of Science degree 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. He further went into banking before becoming a public servant.

The two appointees parade impressive credentials sterling enough for their new roles as anti-corruption czars.

Dele Oyewale
Head, Media & Publicity
October 12, 2023

https://x.com/officialEFCC/status/1712524289377755244?t=6acevhonK1on9iZRY49ojg&s=08

UPDATED: Tinubu appoints new EFCC chairperson whose qualification is controversial

The appointment, announced in a statement by presidential spokesperson on Thursday, confirms PREMIUM TIMES exclusive report days earlier about Mr Tinubu's plan to name Mr Olukoyede as the next EFCC chief in disregard for the law.

EDITOR’S NOTE:This report has been updated following our review of the relevant provisions of the EFCC Establishment Act with our legal expert. We have realised that it is not expressly clear that Mr Olukoyede is not qualified to be appointed as EFCC chairman, but that, it is a controversial matter that pundits continue to disagree on.

President Bola Tinubu has appointed Olanipekun Olukoyede as the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), an appointment that has stirred controversy over the candidate’s qualifications for the job. Many are of the view that Mr Olukoyede, a lawyer, is not qualified to be EFCC chairman under the law establishing the anti-corruption agency. The president also approved the appointment of Muhammad Hammajoda as the Secretary of the EFCC for a renewable term of five years.Both appointments are subject to Senate confirmation.

The appointments, announced in a statement by a presidential spokesperson on Thursday, confirm PREMIUM TIMES exclusive report days earlier about Mr Tinubu’s plan to name Mr Olukoyede as the next EFCC chief. Ajuri Ngelale, the presidential spokes-person who signed the statement, said Mr Olukoyede’s appointment followed the resignation of the immediate-past substantive chairman of the commission, Abdulrasheed Bawa.

Mr Bawa has been in the custody of the State Security Service (SSS) facing investigations over undisclosed corruption allegations since his earlier suspension from office in June.

PREMIUM TIMES reported that Mr Olukoyede, although a former secretary of the EFCC and ex-chief of staff to the chairman of the commission, did not meet the requirements of section 2(3) of the EFCC Act, to be qualified for the appointment. The law stipulates that a chairman of the commission “must be a serving or retired member of any government security or law enforcement agency not below the rank of Assistant Commissioner of Police or equivalent; and possess not less than 15 years experience.”

Mr Olukoyede, a lawyer, had no experience in any security or law enforcement agency until his first appointment at the EFCC in 2016 when he was appointed to serve as the Chief of Staff to then acting chairperson of the EFCC, Ibrahim Magu. He held the position from 2016 to 2018. He was subsequently appointed as the secretary of the commission in 2018 and served in that capacity up till 2020 when he was suspended from office by then-President Muhammadu Buhari. He was suspended alongside Mr Magu and some other officials of the commission. He and Mr Magu were never recalled.

While Mr Magu was replaced with Mr Bawa in February 2021, Mr Olukoyede was replaced with George Ekpungu as the secretary of the commission in June 2021[b].But the presidency’s statement announcing the new EFCC appointments on Thursday stated that Mr Olukoyede served as the secretary of the commission up till 2023.[/b]

Controversy over Olukoyede’s qualification
There is a raging controversy over Mr Olukoyede’s qualification to occupy the office of the EFCC chair.
Some believe that he does not meet, at least, one of the three major criteria in the provision of section 2(1) of the EFCC (Establishment) Act, which requires the chairman to have “15 years cognate experience”.
This assertion is based on the fact that Mr Olukoyede’s experience in any security or law enforcement agency only began with his appointment as the chief of staff to the EFCC chairman in 2016.

In 2018, Mr Olukoyede was appointed the secretary to the commission, a position that qualifies as membership of the EFCC and can safely said to be higher than the equivalent of the rank of assistant commissioner of police, as the EFCC secretary legally serves as the head of administration of the anti-graft agency.

But Mr Olukoyede held this position for only two years – between 2018 and 2020 when he was suspended by then-President Buhari without being recalled. Those who believe he is not qualified to be

EFCC chairman argue that the number of years of his “cognate” experience, even factoring the number of years he served as chief of staff at the EFCC, the only law enforcement or security agency he has ever worked in, was insufficient.

If he had continuously worked at the commission since 2016 unstopped, he would only have garnered about seven years of experience at a law enforcement or security agency, which opponents of his appointment believe falls short of the 15 years of “cognate” experience required to be qualified to become the chairman of the commission.

On the other hand, some have argued that Mr Olukoyede ticks all the right boxes to be qualified as EFCC chair and that those who believe otherwise are only reading into the law what is not contained in it.

Section 2(2) of the EFCC Act clearly identifies the secretary as a member of the commission. In fact, the provision designates the chairman and the secretary of the commission as the only permanent members, and others on the EFCC board as “part-time” members.

Those in this school of thought say Mr Olukoyede meets the first condition of being a “serving or retired member of any government security or law enforcement”, having served as the secretary of the EFCC.

They also say that his position as the secretary of the commission for two years was well above the equivalent of an assistant commissioner of police or its equivalent when compared with the rank of officials that head the administration of other law enforcement or security agencies. For example, a Deputy Inspector General (DIG) is the head of administration in the Nigeria Police Force.

Concerning the third condition stipulated in section 2(1)(a)(iii) of the law, which requires a candidate for EFCC chair to “possess not less than 15 years experience,” the defenders of Mr Olukoyede’s appointment argue that his years-long pre-EFCC experience involving combatting corruption and fraud also forms part of his cognate experience.

This experience, they say, does not have to be from working at a government institution, as it is not stated as such in the provision. They argue that it is improper to add to a legal provision what the maker has not included.

Read the presidency’s full statement announcing the appointment of Mr Olukoyode below.

[quote]STATE HOUSE PRESS RELEASE:

PRESIDENT TINUBU APPOINTS NEW EFCC CHAIRMAN AND SECRETARY OF THE COMMISSION

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.

Mr Olukoyede’s appointment follows the resignation of the suspended Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr. Abdulrasheed Bawa.

Furthermore, President Bola Tinubu has approved the appointment of Mr Muhammad Hassan Hammajoda to serve as the Secretary of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for a renewable term of five years in the first instance, pending Senate confirmation.

Mr Muhammad Hassan Hammajoda is a public administrator with extensive experience in public finance management who holds a Bachelor of Science degree 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 went into banking, including successful stints at the defunct Allied Bank and Standard Trust Bank.

President Bola Tinubu tasks the new leadership of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) [quote]to justify the confidence given to them in this important national assignment as a newly invigorated war on corruption undertaken through a reformed institutional architecture in the anti-corruption sector remains a central pillar of the President’s Renewed Hope agenda.

Chief Ajuri Ngelale
Special Adviser to the President
(Media & Publicity)
October 12, 2023

https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/632999-updated-tinubu-appoints-new-efcc-chairperson-whose-qualification-is-controversial.html

Why Olukoyede is qualified to be EFCC chairman – Presidency

The announcement of Mr Olukoyede as the new EFCC chairman has triggered a controversy over his qualification for the job. The Presidency on Thursday insisted that Olanipekun Olukoyede, newly named by President Bola Tinubu as the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), is qualified to occupy the office.

Presidential spokesperson, Ajuri Ngelale, insisted on Mr Olukoyede’s qualification for the job in a statement, following the controversy the appointment has triggered.

PREMIUM TIMES had, in an exclusive report published days before the official announcement, revealed Mr Tinubu’s plan to name Mr Olukoyede as the next EFCC chief in what could stir a controversy over the candidate’s qualification.

Those who are opposed to the appointment argued that Mr Olukoyede, who served as the chief of staff to the chairman of the EFCC and secretary to the commission at various times between 2016 and 2020, does not possess the 15 years cognate experience required in section 2(a)(ii) of EFCC establishment law.

Since EFCC was the first law enforcement or security agency Mr Olukorede served in, many said, he could not be said to have garnered the required cognate experience before then. But the presidency insisted that Mr Olukoyede “satisfied every legal detail to be appointed as Chairman.”

“He was a member of a law enforcement organisation as Secretary, in this case the EFCC, as stipulated in the EFCC Act, and as such satisfied every legal detail to be appointed as Chairman,” the presidency said in answer to those who argued that his administrative roles at the EFCC do not qualify as cognate experience required to become EFCC chair.

Below is the full statement containing the points argued by the presidency in support of Mr Olukoyede’s qualification.

QUICK FACTS ON THE LEGALITY OF APPOINTMENT OF NEW EFCC CHAIRMAN

Mr. Ola Olukoyede is the new EFCC Chairman. President Bola Tinubu approved his appointment in line with Section 2(3) of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (Establishment) Act, 2004.

1. Mr Olukoyede was the Chief of Staff to the Executive Chairman of the EFCC (2016-2018) and Secretary to the Commission(2018-2020). He was a member of a law enforcement organisation as Secretary, in this case the EFCC, as stipulated in the EFCC Act, and as such satisfied every legal detail to be appointed as Chairman.

2. Section 2(1)(p) of the EFCC Act plainly, ordinarily, and unambiguously established the Secretary to the Commission (i.e., EFCC) as its member and head of its administration.

3. The Supreme Court determined in the case of Ejuetami v. Olaiya & Anor (2001) LPELR-1072 (SC) at Pg.23-24, that: The words used are to be given their ‘ordinary and natural sense’. Therefore the clear, explicit and unambiguous words used in sections 2(1)(a)(i)-(iii), (p), 2(2), 3(1)-(3) and 8(5) of the EFCC Act must be given their ordinary and natural sense in line with the guidelines set by the Supreme Court in its long line of undisturbed judicial precedents.

4. The provision of Section 2(1) sub-paragraph (iii) of the EFCC Act did not state the nature of the experience which a person is required to possess its similar or alike for fifteen (15) years. This implies that such cognate experience is presumed to be that of the work or functions of the EFCC acquired anywhere since the EFCC Act did not state the specific place where it must be acquired.

It is also unambiguous by the provisions of sub-paragraph (iii) that once a person possessed fifteen (15) years of such cognate (i.e., similar or alike) experience, then he has satisfied the provisions of sub-paragraph (iii) of section 2(1)(a) of the EFCC Act.

5. It is clear from the unambiguous provisions of the EFCC Establishment Act, 2004, that any member of the Commission whether serving or retired who has 15 years’ cognate experience in their chosen career are eligible to be appointed as the Chairman of the Commission.

6. Prior to this time, the convention and precedence is that to be qualified for appointment as the Executive Chairman of the Commission, the nominee must be a Police Officer or someone with law enforcement background, particularly in the area of investigation. This has not only exposed the Commission to all manner of vices but has brewed internal wrangling, discontent, and hatred among the members of staff of the Commission.

7. It is nonjusticiable to elevate convention above statutory provision. It is time to move away from fiction to fact and from convention to strict adherence to the statutory provisions of the enabling Act of the Commission in our constitutional democracy.

8. Mr Olukoyede satisfied every legal requirement to be appointed as EFCC Chairman.

https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/633111-why-olukoyede-is-qualified-to-be-efcc-chairman-presidency.html?utm_campaign=twitter&utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitter Mynd44 nlfpmod

An illegitimate president who forged certificate can't obey lawful orders or constitutional provisions. There is always a reason why the nation is always governed by a constitution.

Jettisoned 15years work experience criteria...that you are staying in the military barracks even if you are a policeman doesn't qualify you to be a military personnel.





Wittyness.

President Bola Tinubu tasks the new leadership of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to justify the confidence given to them in this important national assignment as a newly invigorated war on corruption undertaken through a reformed institutional architecture in the anti-corruption sector remains a central pillar of the President’s Renewed Hope agenda.

Guess they will start by fighting the corruption of their CSU diploma certificate forgery of their oga @ the top. Tinubu wey forge common certificate give INEC wants to fight corruption? Balabloo-blu-bulava heroin drug baron no go kill person.

20years cognate experince or not, can he stop and succesfully prosecute looters?

Na wa ooo



To be honest I couldn't read all this long epistle.


But anyways, NA WA OOO

APC and Tinubu are both riddled with controversies so no issue here, it's their way of life in that party

This appointment is already causing ripples in the northwest.. tinubu goofed on this

Odin13:
This appointment is already causing ripples in the northwest.. tinubu goofed on this

The northwest your atiku failed to win

Racoon:
Guess they will start by fighting the corruption of their CSU diploma certificate forgery of their oga @ the top. Tinubu wey forge common certificate give INEC wants to fight corruption? Balabloo-blu-bulava heroin drug baron no go kill person.

Are you not tired of criticism?

garfield1:
The northwest your atiku failed to win

When your tinubu hates anything free and fair.. being in bed with inec is foolishness to democracy not wisdom

2027 is here already..

That’s all

Odin13:
When your tinubu hates anything free and fair.. being in bed with inec is foolishness to democracy not wisdom

2027 is here already..

That’s all

Dont give up yet

Atiku/Okowa 2023
North 2023. E too sure
Plus Wike minus Wike
Powr to the people


Odin, keep believing cause BAT might still be removed

EmperorCaesar:
Dont give up yet

Atiku/Okowa 2023
North 2023. E too sure
Plus Wike minus Wike
Powr to the people


Odin, keep believing cause BAT might still be removed

I work with asiwaju government and favored.. don’t wish him out now and he won’t..

He has till 2027..

.. and will continue.. depending on how he favors the northwest bloc that gave him power..

Efcc was going northwest till the wife and Yoruba cabals influenced it..

We wait for his ambassadorial list and some other board list.

If he keep the ethnic game like buhari. He will have himself to blame.

If your close to presidency.. you will understand that lots of godfathers are eagerly awaiting on names coming from villa ..
Everyone Dey hustle appointments

He doesn't seem to be qualified enough for this assignment.

E be like say to become a pastor in rccg is the new key to appointment under tinubu
I also heard that DG for budget planing is also a rccg pastor.

Time to get into calling

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.

Mr Olukoyede’s appointment follows the resignation of the suspended Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr. Abdulrasheed Bawa.

I am not convinced about the merits of this appointment any more than I was about that female DG at NIMC, one of our nation's most important agencies.

In fact based on what I know about law enforcement, and the investigation of financial crimes, this is yet another case of putting a square peg in a round hole - and there have been several others made since May 29th.

Mr President is misspending some of the goodwill that remains during this honeymoon period, in my view.
This decision is unlikely to age well.

Damikjay:
E be like say to become a pastor in rccg is the new key to appointment under tinubu
I also heard that DG for budget planing is also a rccg pastor.

Time to get into calling

Cronyism on steroids.

garfield1:
Are you not tired of criticism?

Lolssssss, na una dey cry na

Na Yoruba turn. Hausa dun do their own finish. Mak una enjoy why it lasts, bcs I know that a day will come when somebody from another tribe will emerged as d president and continue d nepotism

I am a democrat
I fought for democracy
Democracy is the best form of govt
Yen yen yen
Democracy is based on respect for the rule of law yet they trample on every known law including forgery

does he fit into the efcc act?