By Our Correspondent

In its avoid determination to rid the country of corruption, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) recovered more than N1.23 trillion and $684.5 million in proceeds of crime between October 2023 and June 2026, Executive Chairman, Ola Olukoyede has disclosed.

Olukoyede also said the anti-graft agency secured 10,872 convictions from 14,476 cases filed in court during the 34-month period, describing the development as evidence of a sustained shift towards evidence-based investigation and prosecution.

The EFCC chairman disclosed this on Monday in Abuja while presenting an account of his three-year stewardship at the commission.

He said the period had been marked by sustained enforcement, institutional reforms, prosecution, asset recovery, restitution and increased collaboration with domestic and international law enforcement agencies.

According to him, the commission received 49,673 petitions between October 2023 and July 2026, investigated 39,615 cases and filed 14,476 cases in court, resulting in 10,872 convictions.

He said the commission secured 1,370 convictions from 1,889 cases filed in the first half of 2026 alone.

Olukoyede said the figures reflected the commission’s determination to strengthen prosecution and ensure that investigations translated into concrete courtroom outcomes.

The EFCC boss said the pattern of economic and financial crimes in the country had continued to evolve, with cybercrime and advance-fee fraud accounting for nearly two-thirds of offences recorded between 2024 and 2026 year-to-date.

He said the commission recorded 46,288 offences across nine major categories within the period.

According to him, the total number of recorded offences increased by 24.1 percent between 2024 and 2025, with significant increases recorded in procurement fraud, bank fraud, cybercrime and economic-governance offences.

Olukoyede said the trend demonstrated that the EFCC’s mandate extended beyond the prosecution of high-profile corruption cases.

“The fight against economic and financial crime is not only about grand corruption,” he said, stressing that the commission was also protecting citizens, businesses and institutions from fraud, cyber-enabled crimes and other forms of economic exploitation.

The EFCC chairman said the commission had continued to investigate and prosecute high-profile cases irrespective of the status of suspects.

He said the commission’s portfolio included cases involving former governors, ministers, public office holders, heads of government agencies, financial-sector operators and corporate executives.

He listed the recent convictions of former Minister of Power, Saleh Mamman, former NEXIM Bank Managing Director, Robert Orya, and Chukwunyere Nwabuoku among the high-profile outcomes recorded by the commission.

Olukoyede reiterated that political position, public office or social status would not shield anyone from investigation where credible allegations and evidence existed.

“No office or title places anyone beyond the reach of the law,” he said.

He added that the commission would continue to investigate professionally, prosecute cases on the strength of evidence and allow the courts to determine the guilt or innocence of accused persons.

The commission, according to Olukoyede, also recorded 920 cases under its specialised enforcement portfolio, covering money laundering, unlicensed bureaux de change, illegal mining, virtual assets and terrorist financing.

He said 212 convictions had been secured from the specialised cases, while a substantial number of investigations and prosecutions remained ongoing.

Money laundering and unlicensed bureaux de change cases, he said, constituted the largest portion of the portfolio.

The commission was also paying greater attention to emerging risks associated with virtual assets and illicit financial flows from the extractive sector, he added.

On asset recovery, Olukoyede said the commission recovered N1,233,612,040,411.11, $684,478,457.32, £373,905.78 and €9,343,803.66 between October 1, 2023 and June 30, 2026, in addition to recoveries in other currencies.

He said approximately N397.26 billion, representing 33 percent of the naira recoveries, constituted direct recoveries for the Federal Government.

The remaining N836.34 billion, representing 67 percent, was recovered on behalf of ministries, departments and agencies, state revenue authorities, companies, individuals and foreign victims.

Olukoyede stressed that the figures demonstrated that asset recovery was not solely about increasing federal government revenue.

“Two out of every three naira recovered were on behalf of beneficiaries other than the Federal Government,” he said.

He said the commission’s priority was to ensure that recovered assets were returned to their rightful beneficiaries and converted into value for the public.

The EFCC chairman further disclosed that N661.32 billion and $492.37 million had been released to beneficiaries during the period under review.

He said about N325.35 billion of the naira releases was paid directly to individuals and corporate bodies.

Another N335.97 billion was released to government ministries, departments and agencies, the Nigerian Revenue Service, state internal revenue services and other public institutions, companies and individuals.

Olukoyede said the commission would continue to pursue mechanisms that would make restitution faster, more transparent and more efficient.

The commission also recovered approximately N288.1 billion in federal and state taxes during the period, he said.

The figure comprised about N173.2 billion in federal tax recoveries and N114.9 billion recovered on behalf of state internal revenue services.

Olukoyede described the recoveries as revenue mobilisation through enforcement of existing tax obligations rather than the imposition of new taxes.

The EFCC also recorded about N257.2 billion in naira recoveries for federal ministries, departments and agencies, he said.

According to him, the figures demonstrated how anti-corruption enforcement could strengthen the revenue-generating capacity of government at both federal and subnational levels.

Olukoyede said the impact of asset recovery had also extended to social investment.

He recalled that the Federal Government in August 2024 directed that N50 billion each from recovered proceeds of crime be allocated to the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) and the Nigerian Consumer Credit Corporation.

He said additional N50 billion allocations each to NELFUND and the Consumer Credit Corporation from EFCC recoveries were approved in 2026.

According to him, recovered criminal proceeds could therefore be transformed into productive investments capable of expanding access to education and household credit.

He also cited the conversion of the recovered NOK University into the Federal University of Applied Sciences, Kachia, Kaduna State.

He said 1,909 students matriculated into the institution in December 2025, arguing that the development had created educational opportunities for people who might otherwise have been unable to access tertiary education.

He added that another private university described as a high-value asset had recently been finally forfeited to the Federal Government.

Beyond monetary recoveries, Olukoyede said the commission secured the forfeiture of 10,053 tangible assets under interim and final court orders between October 2023 and July 2026.

The assets included 8,198 electronic items, 1,177 real estate properties, 370 automobiles and 251 plots of land.

Other forfeited assets included schools, factories, hotels, shops, oil rigs, barges, machinery and aircraft.

The commission also secured the forfeiture of 102 tonnes of solid minerals.

Olukoyede said proceeds from the disposal of assets under final forfeiture orders amounted to approximately N12.07 billion, which was paid into government coffers.

The EFCC chairman said the commission’s enforcement activities also contributed to strengthening Nigeria’s anti-money laundering and counter-financing of terrorism framework.

He linked the commission’s work in money laundering, terrorist financing, asset freezing and confiscation, virtual assets and other high-risk sectors to Nigeria’s broader efforts to address deficiencies in its financial system.

He noted that Nigeria’s removal from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list in October 2025 was a national achievement to which the EFCC’s investigations and enforcement activities contributed.

Olukoyede said the commission’s crackdown on unlicensed bureaux de change had also supported reforms in the foreign-exchange market.

He disclosed that 234 BDC-related cases were recorded, resulting in 73 convictions over the three-year period.

The objective, he said, was to support a more formal and transparent retail foreign-exchange market and shut channels vulnerable to illicit financial flows, speculation and round-tripping.

Olukoyede said the commission’s achievements would not have been possible without collaboration with domestic and international partners.

He said the increasingly sophisticated and transnational nature of organised financial crime required stronger cooperation among law enforcement agencies across jurisdictions.

He listed the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and INTERPOL among the international partners with which the EFCC collaborates.

Domestically, he said the commission works with law enforcement agencies, regulators, the judiciary, ministries, departments and agencies and state revenue authorities.

He said the commission had recovered assets across multiple jurisdictions and currencies and returned some recovered assets to foreign entities and individuals.

At the regional level, Olukoyede said he had been re-elected president of the Network of National Anti-Corruption Institutions in West Africa (NACIWA) for another three-year term.

He said the network had become an important platform for regional discussions on asset recovery, financial crime enforcement and institutional strengthening.

The EFCC chairman said the commission had undertaken significant institutional reforms during his tenure.

Among the reforms, he listed new guidelines on arrest and bail, a review of sting operations, the establishment of the Department of Fraud Risk Assessment and Control, Security Department, Immigration and Visa Section and Cybercrime Rapid Response Centre.

He said the commission had also commissioned directorates in Enugu and Ilorin and established new directorates in Ekiti, Anambra and Katsina states to improve citizens’ access to its services.

The commission also introduced policies covering gifts and hospitality, conflict of interest and exhibit-room security.

Olukoyede said the Internal Affairs Department had been renamed and restructured as the Ethics and Integrity Department as part of efforts to strengthen internal accountability.

He disclosed that almost 60 percent of the commission’s processes and operations had been digitalised.

The commission, he said, was also investing in innovation and technology, including a new academy and the EFCC 24/7 Cybercrime Rapid Response Centre, known as E-C2R2.

He added that the commission had also established EFCC Radio.

Olukoyede said despite the progress recorded over the past 34 months, the fight against economic and financial crimes was far from over.

He said the commission’s objective was to ensure that intelligence translated into prevention, petitions into investigations, investigations into prosecutions, prosecutions into convictions and recoveries into restitution.

“We have made significant progress, but the work is not finished. It continues with renewed determination,” he said.

Looking ahead, he identified prevention, faster restitution, investment in investigative technology and improved professionalism in the commission’s dealings with citizens as key priorities.

He pledged that the EFCC would intensify its fight against corruption and economic crime while maintaining respect for due process and focusing on measurable value to Nigerians.

Olukoyede thanked President Bola Tinubu, the National Assembly, judiciary, civil society organisations, the media and Nigerians for supporting the commission’s work.