The Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr. Ola Olukoyede, has charged stakeholders across the public and private sectors to embrace a holistic cybersecurity built on collaboration, transparency, ethics, and citizen awareness.
Olukoyede made this appeal IN Lagos while delivering the Opening Address at the 2025 FITC/NIBSS ThinkNnovation Cybersecurity Conference 6.0 themed “Securing Tomorrow: Cyber Resilience, Intelligent Defence, and the Architecture of Trust in a Borderless World.” on Wednesday 22, October 2025.
The Chairman, who was represented by Deputy Commander of the EFCC, DCE Ayo Oyewole, Head of Public Affairs, Lagos Directorate 1, called for an intensified national and global response to the growing threat of cyber-enabled financial crimes. He emphasized that cybersecurity is now a shared responsibility that must extend beyond institutional concerns and highlighted the urgency of securing Nigeria’s digital financial landscape against rising cross-border cyber threats.
“Cybercrime has evolved from petty fraud to a global criminal enterprise sophisticated, syndicated, and systemically dangerous,” he noted.
“It threatens not just our financial systems, but also national security, democratic institutions, and most importantly, public trust,” he added.
He highlighted the Commission’s evolving role in combating cyber-enabled financial crimes, citing recent strategic reforms, including:
The establishment of a Cybercrime Rapid Response Center, operating 24/7 with digital forensic tools and advanced technological capabilities; enhanced collaboration with local and international partners, including NIBSS, CBN, NCC, Interpol, and global Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs), capacity-building initiatives to strengthen the Commission’s workforce in handling increasingly complex digital crimes and the disruption of major cybercrime syndicates, leading to the recovery of billions of naira in stolen assets.
“In a digital economy, trust is more valuable than technology. “Every failed transaction or data breach erodes public confidence. We must safeguard this trust as a matter of national security”, he said.
According to him, the EFCC is:
Deepening collaboration with financial institutions to detect and deter insider fraud;
Stepping up efforts to protect depositors from targeted cyberattacks;
Working closely with regulators to strengthen cybersecurity laws and enhance asset recovery mechanisms for digital crimes.
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The EFCC Chairman concluded by urging stakeholders to move from awareness to action, from passive defenses to resilient ecosystems, and from basic compliance to systems that inspire enduring trust.
