News
EFCC Rallies Anti-corruption Agencies For Enhanced Collaboration
EFCC Rallies Anti-corruption Agencies For Enhanced Collaboration
The Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Ola Olukoyede on Wednesday, June 8, 2026, convened a strategic meeting of the nation’s anti-corruption agencies at the Abuja corporate headquarters of the Commission.
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The roundtable was to fashion a stronger and enduring collaboration and synergy framework among the EFCC, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, the Code of Conduct Bureau and the Bureau of Public Procurement, BPP for better outcomes in the fight to eradicate corruption, economic and financial crimes in the country.
In a meeting attended by the Director General, BPP, Dr. Adebowale Adedokun; ICPC Chairman, Dr. Musa Adamu Aliyu, SAN, and CCB Chairman, Dr. Abdulahi Usman Bello, Olukoyede explained that he called the anti-graft czars to put heads together for broad-based collaboration and synergy for effective deliveries of the anti-corruption mandates.
He identified procurement and contract fraud as the severest of all public sector corruption and financial crime typologies in the country.
“More than 80 percent of public sector corruption is caused by contract and procurement fraud and if you look at its impact on the economy, on our social life, health sector and all that, you will discover that it’s quite huge. If we can reduce this to the barest minimum, we would have gone a long way in realizing our mandates. If we can actually deal with the issue of contract and procurement fraud in Nigeria, probably within the next one year, the impact will be felt everywhere,” he said.
He stressed the need for the three law enforcement agencies to also work better with the BPP, which is a regulator. “The essence of this meeting is to also work with the BPP. The BPP is a regulator. The three of us were enforcers. In fighting public and private sector procurement and contract fraud, if you don’t work with the regulator, technically speaking, a lot of things would be missed. It’s not just about waiting for them to steal the money. It’s about prevention, it’s about risk management. And that’s where the regulator comes in. They have the technical depth of the procurement processes which some of us may not have. If we work together, if we synergize to establish a sustainable institutional partnership between the law enforcement agencies and the BPP it will go a long way in helping us to reduce contract and procurement fraud. Basically that is the objective of this meeting,” he said.
Speaking further, Olukoyede noted that there are many areas in the Public Procurement Act that have not been activated, adding that “that’s what the BPP DG is here to also draw our attention to. He will also enlighten us with respect to some of these regulations that can help our work.”
He noted that anti-corruption agencies’ collaboration efforts would improve information and intelligence gathering and facilitate timely investigation and prosecution of some cases.
“I have discovered that there is really nothing to compete about. We can do joint investigations. Sometimes it may be necessary for us to do joint monitoring. I believe if we do these with the BPP that will help us a lot. Also, capacity building is very key”, he said.
He proposed the formulation of a Standard Operating Procedure, SOP that will help the agencies stimulate the relationship and identify what is expected of each one of them and the need to manage information very confidentially. “That’s why we decided to call for this meeting. And then, going forward we believe we’ll be able to have this meeting on a quarterly basis so that we will review our resolutions and ultimately help our nation”, he said.
Lending credence to the EFCC’s Chair submissions, ICPC Chairman, while calling for greater synergy and collaboration observed that “if ICPC, CCB, NFIU and EFCC come together it will give people confidence that we are really working together to fight corruption. And that will also help us in avoiding duplications because there are a lot of cases that people will file in EFCC, they will come to ICPC and they will go to Code of Conduct”
“This is an area where I have concern for us. Whenever I see any petition which is out of our mandate, I don’t touch it. I will direct it to either the CCB, EFCC or police. So that’s why this kind of meeting is very important and we need to use technology so that we eliminate duplication.”
EFCC
The Chairman, CCB Chairman, while regretting the impact of corruption in the country, showed in infographics that around N7 to N25 trillion had been lost in the country to corruption. He disclosed that the country has about five million public servants and corroborated that procurement fraud is one of the major scourges in the public sector space. He emphasized the need for improved collaboration, reiterating that partnership among the NFIU, EFCC and ICPC is very important. The NFIU, he said “can provide information for us, the EFCC can investigate financial crimes, regarding procurement. The ICPC can also look at systemic corruption.”
In his presentation, the BPP Chairman took the participant agencies through basic imperatives anti-graft agencies need to know from the regulatory perspective. He made a presentation on “Why Public Procurement Matters,” capturing the consequences of a weak procurement system, which he said usually leads to waste of public resources, cost overrun, project abandonment, poor quality infrastructure and corruption.
He also threw light on public procurement reforms, comprising legal and institutional reforms, capacity building and collaboration. He stressed that “The most effective anti-corruption strategy is not merely to pursue wrongdoing after it occurs, but to design procurement systems where hide.”
He pointed out that public procurement reform required five elements: legal & institutional reforms; governance & accountability; strategic procurement; digital procurement and improved market operations. Discussions were held on such issues as procurement without cash backing, deliberate breaches of procurement procedures, abuse of procurement laws, among others.
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EFCC Arraigns ALSCON, Director for Alleged N582.43m Money Launderin
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on Monday, October 12, 2026, arraigned Aluminium Smelter Company of Nigeria, ALSCON, plc, and its Director, Zavyalov Dmitry, before Justice O. A. Egwuatu of the Federal High Court, Abuja, for alleged money laundering offences involving N582,430,250.00 (Five Hundred and Eighty-Two Million, Four Hundred and Thirty Thousand, Two Hundred and Fifty Naira).
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The company and its director were arraigned on a six-count amended charge, marked FHC/ABJ/CR/644/2025. Dmitry is said to be at large.
According to the charge, the company, a Designated Non-Financial Business and Profession, DNFBP, and Its Director, Dmitry, failed to report in writing to the Special Control Unit against Money Laundering (SCUML) single transfers made from the company’s account between March and July 2024, as required under Section 11(1)(b) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
The transfers include N147,515,050.00 in March 2024, N156,026,860.00 in April 2024, N121,425,200.00 in May 2024 and N127,338,190.00 in July 2024, all paid to UDATSON NIGERIA. Others are N15,124,950.00 paid to Urico Global Services in April 2024 and N15,000,000.00 paid to one Christopher Azogu in June 2024.
Count one reads: “That you, Aluminium Smelter Company Of Nigeria Limited, plc, a Designated Non-Financial Business and Profession (DNFBP) and Zavyalov Dmitry (at large) being Director of the said DNFBP sometime in March, 2024 in Abuja within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, failed to report in writing to the Special Control Unit against Money Laundering (SCUML), a single transfer of the sum of N147,515,050.00 (One Hundred and Forty Seven Million, Five Hundred and Fifteen Thousand, Fifty Naira) paid into UDATSON NIGERIA from account no. 1013726291 operated by Aluminium Smelter Company Of Nigeria Plc as specified under Section 11(1)(b) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022 and you thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Sections 11 (3), 19(2) (b), and 22 of the same Act.”
Count two: “That you, Aluminium Smelter Company Of Nigeria, plc, a. Designated Non-Financial Business and Profession (DNFBP) and Zavyalov Dmitry (at large) being Director of the said DNFBP sometime in April, 2024 in Abuja within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, failed to report in writing to the Special Control Unit against Money Laundering (SCUML), a single transfer of the sum of N156,026,860.00 (One Hundred and Fifty Six Million, Twenty Six Thousand, Eight Hundred and Sixty Naira) paid into UDATSON NIGERIA from account no. 1013726291 operated by Aluminium Smelter Company Of Nigeria Plc as specified under Section 11(1)(b) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022 and you thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Sections 11 (3), 19(2) (b), and 22 of the same Act.”
Count four of the charge sheet reads, “That you, Aluminium Smelter Company Of Nigeria Plc, a Designated Non-Financial Business and Profession and Zavyalov Dmitry (at large) being Director of the said DNFBP sometime in May, 2024 in Abuja within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, failed to report in writing to the Special Control Unit against Money Laundering (SCUML), a single transfer of the sum of N121,425,200.00 (One Hundred and Twenty One Million, Four Hundred and Twenty Five Thousand, Two Hundred Naira) paid into Udatson Nigeria from account no. 1013726291 operated by Aluminium Smelter Company Of Nigeria Plc as specified under section 11(1)(b) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022 and you thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under sections 11 (3), 19(2) (b), and 22 of the same Act.”
EFCC
Lead counsel to the EFCC, Ekele Iheanacho, SAN, told the court that the offences are punishable under sections 11(3), 19(2)(b) and 22 of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act.
When the charges were read, the company’s Acting Managing Director, Ime Monday Inyang, pleaded not guilty to all six counts on its behalf.
Counsel to the company had asked the court to quash the charges, claiming that the company was innocent of the charges.
In view of the plea, Justice Egwuatu adjourned the matter to January 27, 2027 for commencement of trial.
Dele Oyewale
Head, Media & Publicity
October 12, 2026
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News
Taiwo Oyedele, Cardoso Meet World Bank President Banga on Nigeria’s Shift From Stability to Growth
Taiwo Oyedele, Cardoso Meet World Bank President Banga on Nigeria’s Shift From Stability to Growth
Bangkok, 12 October 2026. The Honourable Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, and the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Olayemi Cardoso, met the President of the World Bank Group, Ajay Banga, on Monday. The meeting took place on the sidelines of the 2026 IMF and World Bank Group Annual Meetings in Bangkok, Thailand, where Oyedele leads Nigeria’s delegation.
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The meeting reviewed Nigeria’s reform progress and the next phase of its agenda: turning macroeconomic stability into faster growth, more private investment and stronger domestic revenues.
Banga commended the progress of Nigeria’s reforms. He pointed to the rise in private capital inflows from about $300 million in 2023 to nearly $6 billion in 2026, a twentyfold increase.
Oyedele highlighted the rising economic growth and noted that Nigeria’s tax-to-GDP ratio rose from about 7 per cent to 12.5 per cent over the same period. This gives the government more room to fund public investment without resorting to deficit monetisation.
The meeting discussed how Nigeria can make greater use of World Bank guarantee instruments. These guarantees can unlock financing for infrastructure and draw more private capital into the domestic market.
Power infrastructure and human capital were identified as priorities for continued public investment, given their importance to business competitiveness, productivity and job creation. The meeting also stressed the quality of public spending, so that each naira delivers measurable economic and social returns.
Taiwo Oyedele, Cardoso
The meeting is part of the Federal Government’s wider engagement with development partners to lock in reform gains and attract new investment. As Nigeria moves from stability to growth, the priority is to turn stronger fundamentals into productive investment, more jobs and better living standards for Nigerians.
Efe Ovuakporie
Head of Media
Federal Ministry of Finance
12 October 2026
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High Court Dismisses Aisha Achimugu’s Fundamental Rights Suit Against EFCC
Justice M.S. Liman of the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has dismissed a fundamental human rights suit filed by Abuja-based businesswoman, Aisha Achimugu against the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
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In the originating suit no : FHC/ABJ/CS/466/2026, Achimugu approached the court for determination of whether the defendant, EFCC’s action of searching her house and seizing her cars and jewelries and other items was within the powers of the Commission.
Achimugu also asked the court to enforce her rights to privacy, including an order of the court restraining the defendant from threatening or harassing and invading her private residence.
Part of her claim was for the court to award a N10,000,000,000 (Ten Billion Naira) damage against the EFCC for what she described as invasion of her privacy.
Delivering judgment in the suit on Monday, October 10, 2026, Justice Liman dismissed the suit and held that the defendant has the power to search the plaintiff’s property after receiving intelligence on the alleged criminal activities of the plaintiff. “EFCC has the right to search the residence,” he said.
The judge said that Achimugu and her legal representatives failed to show reason to warrant the kind of damage she demanded from the EFCC and equally dismissed the request for N10 billion damages.
On the whole, Justice Liman agreed that there was nothing that should have stopped the EFCC from carrying out its statutory duties. The court therefore held that the matter lacked merit and was dismissed because “ it is frivolous and it was brought in bad faith”. The damage she sought was also denied.
Federal High Court
Reacting to the judgment, counsel to the EFCC, Emenike Mgbemele said the judgment was in the interest of justice, adding that the suit was a ploy to waste the time of the court.
Dele Oyewale
Head, Media & Publicity
October 12, 2026
Eereporter.com
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