EFCC Pledges Grassroots Anti-Graft Push as Councils Gain More Funds

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) will intensify scrutiny of local government finances to ensure rising allocations deliver real development for ordinary Nigerians, Executive Chairman Ola Olukoyede has said.

Speaking on Tuesday in Abuja at the maiden Annual National Conference of Local Government Council Chairmen and Traditional Rulers’ Councils, Olukoyede, represented by the Commission’s Director of Public Affairs, Commander C.E. Wilson Uwujaren, stressed that accountability cannot stop at the federal level. With greater resources now flowing to the third tier of government following the Supreme Court’s affirmation of local government financial autonomy, he said the true test would be whether the money improves primary healthcare, basic education, rural roads, water supply, food systems and opportunities for women and youth.

“The EFCC is equally committed to transparency and accountability at the sub-national level and would want to see the improved resources flow to the third tier of government translate into improvement in the quality of lives of the grassroots population,” he stated.

Olukoyede linked the Commission’s work directly to President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, noting that anti-corruption efforts underpin every pillar of the administration’s programme. He cited concrete examples of recovered proceeds of crime being converted into public investment: the Federal Government directed ₦50 billion each from recovered funds to the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) and the Nigerian Consumer Credit Corporation (CREDICORP), with further approvals since granted. He also highlighted the transformation of the forfeited former NOK University in Kaduna into the Federal University of Applied Sciences, Kachia, which had enrolled 1,909 students by December 2025.

On the broader performance of the EFCC, Olukoyede recalled that between October 2023 and the period covered by the Commission’s recent stewardship account, recoveries exceeded ₦1.233 trillion, alongside about $684.48 million, £373,905.78 and €9.34 million.

Roughly two-thirds of the naira recovered was returned to ministries, departments and agencies, state revenue services, companies and individuals. Federal and state tax recoveries alone totalled about ₦288.1 billion.

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Approximately ₦661.32 billion and $492.37 million were released to beneficiaries during the review period.

“Recovery reaches its highest value when recovered assets are returned to citizens or converted into productive national use,” he said.

The EFCC chairman also drew a clear connection between economic crime and national security. He pointed to the financing of terrorist organisations, illegal mining, cross-border cybercrime and money laundering as threats that can no longer be treated in isolation. The Commission’s specialised enforcement portfolio has recorded 920 cases and 212 convictions, with further investigations and prosecutions ongoing in money laundering, terrorist financing, illegal mining and virtual-assets fraud. Almost 60 per cent of the agency’s processes have been digitalised, supported by continued investment in the Cybercrime Rapid Response Centre and investigative technology to safeguard Nigeria’s growing digital economy.

Olukoyede emphasised due process, stating that the EFCC would investigate professionally, prosecute on the strength of evidence and respect the constitutional role of the courts. “No title should place anyone outside the reach of the law, but neither should the fight against corruption be separated from due process.”

He noted that the Commission is also strengthening its own internal standards through new arrest and bail guidelines and conflict-of-interest safeguards, arguing that an institution demanding accountability must itself be accountable. Nigeria’s exit from the Financial Action Task Force grey list in October 2025, he said, demonstrated the value of sustained inter-agency reforms in which the EFCC played a central role, boosting economic growth, national reputation and investor confidence.

President Tinubu, represented by Secretary to the Government of the Federation George Akume, reinforced the message that development must take root from the bottom up. He said his administration’s vision is to shorten the distance between government and the governed, widen access to services and create more centres of local development.

Nigerians across the country, he stressed, must experience tangible improvements in primary healthcare, basic education, rural roads, safe water, stronger food systems, support for small businesses and opportunities for women and young people.

The conference, themed around cascading the Renewed Hope Agenda to the grassroots, brought together local government chairmen and traditional rulers as key stakeholders in translating national policy into community-level results. Olukoyede’s intervention underscored a clear expectation: as more public resources reach the councils, the EFCC will be watching to ensure accountability becomes “a living principle rather than a slogan.”