Posted by The appointment is for an initial four-year term that may be extended with Senate approval.
Nearly four months have passed since Tinubu suspended the previous anti-graft agency head, Mr. Abdulrasheed Bawa, and since Olukoyede has taken over as its head.
“Mr. Olukayode’s appointment follows the resignation of the suspended Executive Chairman of the EFCC, Mr. Abdulrasheed Bawa,” read part of the statement by Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale.
It has been widely viewed as dangerous to head the country’s anti-corruption body. According to DAILY POST, no EFCC chairperson has had an easy period in office.
There is also the allegation that current presidents have exploited the position as a tool to attack their political opponents.
The current methods of the commission, including late-night raids on people’s homes and media trials, are largely perceived as archaic and antiquated, and Olukoyede confronts the onerous challenge of rebranding the agency.
The remembers that the panel has been criticized for not conducting early morning raids on the houses of notable individuals or politicians.
There have been calls in Nigeria for the EFCC to adopt a more tech-focused strategy. They said that by doing so, more powerful people in the country would be held accountable for their role in the theft of public funds.
Nigerians are confident that the new EFCC boss will restore sanity and the confidence of the masses in the agency, according to Olu Omotayo, president of the Civil Rights Realisation and Advancement Network (CRRAN).
Omotayo, a legal expert, expressed disappointment that the EFCC had adopted the practices of other security organizations.
He said he didn’t think the EFCC would be effective in its fight against corruption if it had to collect funds from the public for “mobilization” before it could launch an inquiry.
The lawyer went on to stress the importance of Olukoyede and the EFCC regaining their former grandeur so that the public may once again put their trust in them.
He believes that the poor should be able to go directly to the EFCC with complaints and have them looked at.
When asked if he thought the EFCC might reclaim its former luster, he answered, “Well, we expect him to take it back. I can attest to the fact that complaints have always resulted in investigations by the EFCC since its inception. No one has requested that you bring this in order to rally us. They’re looking into it immediately because of that complaint.
To be fair, EFCC is now functioning similarly to other security agencies. They don’t conduct probes. I’ve heard of cases when the agency set up to combat corruption is asking for mobilization. There is no way such approach can be effective in combating corruption.
Nobody required you to bring Kobo while Nuhu Ribadu was in charge; if you had a problem, you could go there and it would be addressed regardless of your financial situation.
But at the present time there was a subject for which I petitioned the EFCC. My customer was even worried that they had been compromised because the problem had reached their legal department.
“The matter after investigation was held up in the legal session for more than eight months before I started writing to the Chairman, ‘the matter that was probed, why were they holding on to it’. I spoke at a press conference before EFCC agreed to file formal charges.
Therefore, it is essential that the EFCC rediscover its former glory and restore public trust so that anyone, regardless of socioeconomic status, may confidently approach the agency with a complaint and know that it will be thoroughly examined.
I’m hoping that with Olukoyede at the helm, the EFCC would regain its former credibility and the trust of the people.
In my opinion, we will be able to determine the man’s future location within the coming months. Who exactly runs the agency determines how much political involvement there will be.
This will not occur if the individual is committed to preventing corruption and acting in an honest and just manner. Because his subordinates will learn the hard way that they will be let go if they falsify evidence or fail to perform their duties to the letter.
You can’t keep doing the same things and expect different outcomes, thus the EFCC chairman has the power to refocus those working for him. He needs to make a reputation for himself in the public eye and emulate how proactive the Ribadu probe was when it initially began.
So, we anticipate that he will carry out these tasks, and over the forthcoming months, we will know whether or not he has succeeded.
Because of his position, he is under surveillance, and he should be aware of it. If he’s corrupt, you can’t retain him on the job past his term end date.
We thought that a young man like Bawa would do better, but he ended up messing everything up by using many bank accounts and sending his entire family on separate holidays to Saudi Arabia, where everyone is aware of your wealth.
The people of Nigeria, I believe, are beginning to demand more transparency and responsibility from their administration. We’ll keep an eye on him, and the whole world will be looking to the agency to see if he delivers.
In an interview with , Comrade Joseph Chinedu, president of the human rights organization Triple Seal Global Initiative for Peace, encouraged Olukoyede to use his expertise to investigate where stolen money has gone and develop plans to prevent further theft from the public coffers.
Chinedu has instructed the incoming head of the EFCC to combat online fraud and corruption in general in order to entice foreign direct investment.
The fight against corruption, he stressed, must be non-partisan, thus he also cautioned against attempting to politicize the nomination of Olukoyede as the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
You can’t say he doesn’t have the credentials to lead the EFCC if his background is as a certified fraud examiner who has led and managed investments, including civil litigation of fraud and financial crimes, for international development projects.
In Nigeria, “politics isn’t played with every appointment anymore.
Good leadership and management of the country’s dwindling resources are urgently required. Help is needed to steer the government in the direction of progress.
Instead of worrying about the new EFCC chairman’s qualifications, which are “born out of inadequate knowledge and sheer politics,” as he put it, assistance should be given to him.
Dada Olayinka Olabode, spokesman for the Forum of State Chairmen of the NNPP, urged the new EFCC Chairman to distance himself from politics in order to avoid politicizing his position.
He stressed again and again the importance of educating the commission’s employees about preventing corruption through training and retraining.
He said the Commission’s head should move quickly to bring to justice dishonest public servants and private persons.
He stressed the importance of the new EFCC chairman keeping his position non-partisan.
Professionalism must be the fundamental value he places above other interests, in contrast to his predecessors who became involved only when politics was around the corner, turning the agency into a political witch-hunting agency.
“Commission staff must be taught and retrained in preventing and suppressing corruption.
It is imperative that corrupt public servants and private persons be brought to justice as quickly as possible to prevent them from gaining political favor or patronage from the incoming administration.
Under his direction, the commission should establish special anti-corruption courts to try offenders as quickly as possible.
It is recommended that “inter-agency collaboration on intelligence sharing, apprehension of culprits, confiscation of properties acquired with ill-gotten proceeds, and repatriation of stolen funds should be enhanced in dealing with corrupt cases within and outside Nigeria.”
Meanwhile, questions have been raised about Olukoyede’s suitability for the position of head of the EFCC.
There were many who argued that the law that set up the EFCC did not allow a lawyer like Olukoyede to hold the position of chairman.
While responding to the appointment, People’s Democratic Party chieftain Daniel Bwala called it “unlawful and illegal,” and said, “It runs foul of the provisions of Section 2 of the EFCC Act.”
Among other things, the Act states that the EFCC Chairman “shall be a serving or retired member of any security or law enforcement agency, shall have 15 years cognate experience of law enforcement, and shall not be below the rank of assistant commissioner of police,” as stated by Bwala.
Bwala said, “Olukayode is a private legal practitioner and has never worked or belonged to any security or law enforcement agency as a member.”
However, Femi Falana, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria and a legal expert, has refuted the allegations made against Olukoyede.
Falana stated that Olukoyede’s selection was fine, since he was more than qualified to lead the EFCC in his position.
The legal advisor claimed that the appointment’s compliance with the principle of federal character was his primary concern.
Falana made his comments throughout the week on the Channels Television show Sunrise Daily.
No, he assured me, there was no problem there. The federal character commission act is the only concern that has been voiced, and it is one that I believe the government must take into account. Appointments also have to be consistent with the federal character required by section 14 of the Constitution.
Therefore, the EFCC and ICPC’s respective leaders must be from different regions. One public service job in this country must go to the North, and the other must go to the South.
It’s mandatory that two go north and two go south if there are four. If there are six, they should be distributed evenly among the country’s several time zones. That is currently the law in Nigeria.
That the current leaders of the EFCC and ICPC both hail from the same time zone makes me uneasy. Mr. Olukoyede is otherwise extremely qualified to lead the EFCC.
The relevant legislation requirements of the EFCC are found in section two, and they state that the Chairman must be at least an Assistant Commissioner of Police or its equivalent in the security service or law enforcement agency. My colleagues who have criticized the appointment have not looked at these laws.
Mr. Olukoyede has served as the EFCC Chairman’s Chief of Staff. In addition to serving as the Commission’s Secretary, he has also been a voting member of the board.
Some people now claim that he lacks the necessary “causal” experience. That particular agency is not required to have had the required prior experience under the legislation.
The debate will now move to the Senate, which must decide whether or not to ratify Olukoyede’s nomination under the Constitution.