Ola Olukoyede Charges EFCC’s Media Managers on Emerging Technologies in Information Dissemination

The Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Mr. Ola Olukoyede, has charged Heads of Public Affairs across the Commission to embrace emerging technologies, particularly Artificial Intelligence (AI), and deploy innovative, strategic and credible communication approaches to effectively tell the EFCC story, counter misinformation and strengthen public confidence in the fight against economic and financial crimes.
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He gave the charge on Friday, August 28, 2026, at the closing ceremony of a Two-Day Executive Master Class on AI, Digital Media, Fact-Checking and Strategic Corporate Communication for Public Institutions, organised for Heads of Public Affairs Departments of the Commission at its Headquarters in Abuja.

Represented by the Secretary to the Commission, Muhammad Hassan Hammajoda, Olukoyede commended the organisers and participants for the success of the Master Class, noting that the rapidly changing communication environment demanded that the Commission’s communication professionals remain ahead of emerging technologies, trends and narratives.

The EFCC boss said the training was particularly timely as the Commission continued to strengthen its engagement with Nigerians and communicate the impact of its activities in the fight against economic and financial crimes. He urged the participants to translate the knowledge acquired into improved performance, stressing that “effective communication is central to public understanding, institutional credibility and sustainable support for the anti-corruption campaign.”

He also stressed that the Commission expected its Public Affairs officers to use the knowledge gained from the programme to develop more compelling narratives, respond intelligently to emerging issues and ensure that the EFCC’s story is told with accuracy, speed and credibility.

Also speaking at the occasion, the Chief of Staff to the Executive Chairman, Commander of the EFCC, CE Michael Nzekwe, spoke glowingly about the contributions of the Public Affairs arm of the Commission to the projection of the EFCC’s image and the advancement of its anti-corruption mandate.

He acknowledged the strategic role being played by Public Affairs officers in explaining the Commission’s work to the public, shaping public understanding of its activities and ensuring that the relevance of the EFCC in the fight against corruption remains visible in the public space. He encouraged the communication team to sustain its professionalism, creativity, and commitment to telling the Commission’s story in ways that resonate with Nigerians.

The Director, Public Affairs Department, Commander of the EFCC, CE Wilson Uwujaren, expressed appreciation to the management of the Commission for sponsoring the training, describing the investment in the capacity development of Public Affairs officers as timely and valuable.

Uwujaren urged the participants to put the knowledge acquired into optimal use, stressing that the true value of any training was measured by its impact on performance. He charged the Heads of Public Affairs Department in the zones to return to their various formations better equipped to deploy emerging communication technologies, fact-check information, develop compelling digital content and communicate the activities of the Commission more strategically.

Giving the vote of thanks on behalf of the facilitators of the programme, the Executive Director of the West Africa Broadcast Media Academy, WABMA, Mike Yawe, described the two-day engagement as an intensive and impactful learning experience. He thanked the EFCC for giving WABMA the opportunity to engage with what he described as a professional and highly interactive team.

Yawe observed that the training went beyond conventional lectures, providing participants with an opportunity to “learn, unlearn, rethink and refine” their approaches to communication.

According to him, one of the major lessons from the training was that “the communication environment has changed, and communicators must change with it.” He noted that Artificial Intelligence was no longer something communication professionals could afford to observe from a distance as it offered opportunities to research faster, generate ideas, analyse information, improve content and achieve better results within shorter periods.

However, he cautioned that technology remained a tool, stressing that human communicators must continue to provide judgement, ethics, context and responsibility in the use of AI.

The WABMA Executive Director commended the quality of participation during the brainstorming sessions, noting that the questions, experiences and perspectives shared by participants demonstrated that the EFCC communication team was thinking deeply about its responsibility to the institution and the Nigerian public. He, however, challenged the participants to take the lessons from the Master Class back to their various offices and put them into practice.

“Use the AI tools responsibly. Verify before you amplify. Think strategically before you communicate. And never compromise the credibility of the institution you represent,” he charged.

He expressed appreciation to the management of the EFCC, the Public Affairs Department , facilitators and participants for making the two-day programme engaging and productive, while expressing hope that the engagement would mark the beginning of a continuing professional relationship between the Commission and WABMA.

Olukoyede

The Master Class provided participants with practical exposure to emerging trends in Artificial Intelligence, Digital storytelling, Fact-checking, Misinformation management, Strategic corporate communication and Contemporary media engagement, with emphasis on their application to public-sector communication.

Resource persons from WABMA took the participants through a gamut of professional tutoring, experience-sharing, life application and global excursion in strategic communication.
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Nigerian Navy Disrupts 2 Illegal Refining Sites, Recovers 34,000 Litres of Petroleum Products in Rivers

The Nigerian Navy has sustained efforts to disrupt illegal refining activities in Rivers State, with personnel of Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS) PATHFINDER identifying and deactivating two illegal refining sites around the Ohaji axis of Egbema-Ndoni Local Government Area.
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The operation, conducted on 28 August 2026, resulted in the recovery of approximately 34,000 litres of products suspected to be illegally refined Automotive Gas Oil (AGO) contained in dugout pits, sacks and reservoirs, alongside other items associated with the illegal refining activities.

The latest operation forms part of sustained efforts by NNS PATHFINDER to prevent the re-establishment of illegal refining infrastructure in the area. The continued interventions have contributed to a decline in the reactivation of such sites within the general area.

The identified sites, recovered products and associated items were handled in accordance with established anti-crude oil theft procedures. No arrest was made as the suspected operators fled before the arrival of the naval team.

Nigerian Navy

The Nigerian Navy remains committed to sustaining intelligence-led operations under Operation DELTA SENTINEL to disrupt crude oil theft and illegal refining activities, protect critical national assets and safeguard legitimate economic activities within Nigeria’s maritime and riverine environment.

Signed

Abiodun Folorunsho

Navy Captain

Director Naval Information
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EFCC under Olukoyede’s Stewardship Recovers ₦1.233Trillion in 34 Months

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has broken its monetary asset recovery record in both national and foreign currencies in the 34 months of Ola Olukoyede’s leadership.
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The disclosure was made on Monday, August 31, 2026 when the Executive Chairman of the Commission, Ola Olukoyede, addressed the media on his stewardship.

Available records showed that recovery in naira hit an all-time high of ₦1, 233,612,040,411.11, (One Trillion, Two Hundred and Thirty-three Billion, Six Hundred and Twelve Million, Forty Thousand, Four Hundred and Eleven Naira, Eleven Kobo). In dollars, it hit $684,478,457,32, (Six Hundred and Eighty-four Million, Four Hundred and Seventy-eight Thousand, Four Hundred and Fifty-Seven Dollars, Thirty-two cents). In Pound Sterling, the recovery hit £373,905.78, (Three Hundred and Seventy-three Thousand, Nine Hundred and five Pounds, Seventy-eight Shillings) while it rose to €9,343,803.66 (Nine Million, Three Hundred and Forty-three Thousand, Eight Hundred and three Euros, Sixty-six Cents) in euros.

Out of the naira recovery, approximately ₦397.26billion, representing 33 percent was direct recoveries for the federal government, while ₦836.34billion, representing 67 percent were recoveries made by the Commission on behalf of ministries, departments and agencies, state revenue services, companies, individuals and foreign victims. This breakdown, according to Olukoyede, shows that “two out of every three naira recovered, were on behalf of beneficiaries other than the federal government.”

In the area of prosecution, the EFCC’s chair disclosed that “the Commission received 49,673 petitions, investigated 39,615 cases, filed 14,476 cases in court and secured 10,872 convictions between October 2023 and July 2026, stating that this gives a conviction-to-filing ratio of 75.1 per cent. In the first half of 2026 alone, the Commission he said recorded 1,370 convictions from 1,889 filings. These results reflect diligence, resilience and a prosecutorial approach anchored on evidence and courtroom outcomes”.

Speaking further, Olukoyede revealed that data from petitions and case analysis provides an indication of the shifting trends in the financial crime threat landscape. The Commission’s 2024 to 2026 year-to-date category data recorded 46,288 offences across nine major typologies. Advance fee fraud and cybercrime together, represented nearly two-thirds of recorded offences. However, between 2024 and 2025, total recorded offences rose by 24.1 per cent, with notable increases in procurement fraud, bank fraud, cybercrime and economic-governance offences.

According to him, “This tells us that the fight against economic and financial crime is not only about grand corruption. Every day, we are protecting citizens, businesses and institutions from fraud, cyber-enabled crime and other forms of economic exploitation.”

The EFCC has continued to pursue complex and high-profile matters without regard to status. Its high-profile case portfolio spans former governors, ministers and other public office holders, heads of agencies, financial-sector operators and corporate officials.

The Commission’s specialised enforcement portfolio, he said, further demonstrates the breadth of this work. “Across money laundering, unlicensed bureaux de change, illegal mining, virtual assets and terrorist financing, the Commission recorded 920 cases, with 212 convictions secured and a substantial active pipeline of investigations and prosecutions. Money laundering and unlicensed bureau de change cases account for the largest share of this portfolio. We are also responding to emerging risks in virtual assets and illicit financial flows from the extractive sector,” he said.

While noting that recovery is only truly meaningful when value is returned to the public interest and to the rightful beneficiaries, Olukoyede stated that during the period under review, ₦661.32 billion and US$492.37 million were released to beneficiaries. The naira releases, he said, included about ₦325.35 billion paid directly to individuals and corporate bodies, while ₦335.97 billion was released to various MDA’s, Nigerian Revenue Service and States’ Internal Revenue Services, alongside releases to other public institutions, companies and individuals.

While disclosing that there was a significant revenue-mobilisation dimension to the Commission’s work, the EFCC’s boss stated that “Federal and state tax recoveries amounted to approximately ₦288.1 billion over the period, including about ₦173.2 billion in federal tax recoveries and ₦114.9 billion attributed to States’ Internal Revenue Services, being fiscal value recovered through enforcement of existing obligations, and not through the imposition of new taxes. “In addition, approximately ₦257.2 billion in naira recoveries were recorded for federal ministries, departments and agencies, demonstrating how anti-corruption enforcement can reinforce the revenue capacity of the government,” he said.

He observed that national impact of recovery is perhaps clearest when proceeds of crime are converted into productive social investment, recalling the federal government’s directive in August 2024, for ₦50 billion each to be allocated to the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) and the Nigerian Consumer Credit Corporation from EFCC’s proceeds of crime and further funding of N50billion each for both organisations in 2026 from EFCC recoveries.

He also recalled that former NOK University, forfeited to the federal government was converted to a Federal University of Applied Sciences, Kachia, Kaduna State, with a total of 1,909 students matriculated into the University in December 2025, disclosing further that another private university of high value has also been forfeited to the federal government. According to Olukoyede, “When recovered criminal value helps finance education and household credit, enforcement moves beyond punishment to restoration and productive national use.”

He noted that anti-corruption enforcement sanitises the fiscal space, strengthens federal and sub-national revenue, returns working capital to institutions, companies and citizens, supports financial-market integrity, protects the extractive and digital economies and strengthens Nigeria’s international credibility.

Speaking further, he said that “it also produces a deterrence dividend,” stating that every successful prosecution and every asset stripped from criminal enterprise reduces the expected cost of economic crime.”

Beyond cash, he disclosed that the Commission over the period secured the forfeiture of 10,053 tangible assets under interim and final court orders between October 2023 and July 2026. These included 8,198 electronic items, 1,177 real-estate assets, 370 automobiles, 251 plots of land, as well as schools, factories, hotels, shops, oil rigs, barges, machinery and Aircraft. We also recorded the forfeiture of 102 tonnes of solid minerals.

“Proceeds from disposal under final forfeiture orders amounted to approximately ₦12.07 billion and were paid to the Federal Government,” he said.

The anti graft czar also disclosed that the work of the Commission within the period equally contributed to improving the integrity of Nigeria’s financial system. Sustained enforcement in money laundering, terrorist financing, asset freezing and confiscation, virtual assets and other higher-risk sectors formed part of Nigeria’s wider national effort to address deficiencies in the anti-money laundering and counter-financing of terrorism framework.

According to him, “Nigeria’s removal from the Financial Action Task Force Grey List in October 2025 was a national achievement, and the Commission’s casework and enforcement activities formed part of that collective effort.”

In the foreign-exchange market, Olukoyede noted that enforcement against unlicensed bureaux de change reinforced the regulatory reforms of the Central Bank of Nigeria, noting that the Commission recorded 234 BDC cases and 73 convictions within the last three years.

“The overarching objective is to support a more formal, transparent and compliant retail foreign-exchange market and close channels vulnerable to illicit finance, speculation and round tripping. This has improved macroeconomic stability with long-term benefits for the average citizen,” he said.

In the area of institutional Reform and Restructuring, he observed that there is consequential improvement in the Commission’s processes and procedures, which partly explain the impact the Commission has made in all the matrices of law enforcement.

Reforms that have strengthened the Commission during the period include new guidelines on arrest and bail, a review of sting operations, the establishment of the Department of Fraud Risk Assessment and Control, the Security Department, the Immigration and Visa Section and the Cybercrime Rapid Response Centre.

In addition, the Enugu and Ilorin directorates were commissioned within the period and new directorates, established in Ekiti, Anambra and Katsina states, which has significantly improved citizens’ access to the Commission.

Olukoyede also instituted policies on gifts and hospitality, conflict of interest and exhibit-room security. He re-named and re-structured the Internal Affairs Department as Ethics and Integrity Department to reflect the Commission’s commitment to internal cleansing under his leadership.

Olukoyede

The Commission is also currently investing heavily in digitalization projects. “At the moment, almost 60 percent of our processes and operations have been digitalized. Continuing investment in innovation and digitisation, the new Academy and EFCC 24/7 Cybercrime Rapid Response Centre (E-C2R2) as a strategic response to the growing complexity of cyber-enabled financial crimes and EFCC Radio,” he said.

In general, Olukoyede observed that the past 34 months have been a period of sustained enforcement, institutional reform, prosecution, asset recovery, restitution and stronger collaboration at home and abroad.
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