EFCC Reaffirms Commitment To Economic Growth – Olukoyede

EFCC reaffirms commitment to economic growth. The Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Mr. Ola Olukoyede has reiterated his commitment towards using the anti-corruption fight to stimulate growth in the economy.

He stated this in Abuja on Thursday, April 3, 2025 while receiving the the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Nigerian Export- Import, NEXIM Bank, Mallam Abba Bello who came on a courtesy visit to the corporate headquarters of the EFCC.

While expressing delight at the visit, Olukoyede noted that the mission of the EFCC and that of NEXIM Bank align in the area of stimulation of the country’s economic growth.

“We have shared mandates with your bank as an export-import promoting bank, which is to grow the economy. Doing that, you are promoting the economy and on our part, one of our mandates is to also use the instrumentality of the fight against corruption to grow the economy. So, from that perspective I believe we have a shared mandate”.

The EFCC boss lauded Bello’s leadership skills in steering NEXIM Bank away from insolvency to profit-making entities. “You deserve a round of applause for turning the institution around. To have done that is no joke at all. It’s a major responsibility because you have to deal with both external and internal factors.

Even changing the orientation of the people you met on ground, changing the system, the processes and all of that takes a lot. For you to have achieved that milestone, I think you need to be applauded and also be encouraged to do more”, he said.

While acknowledging that the Commission is not a debt recovery agency, Olukoyede disclosed that the Commission only steps in when debts verge on economic sabotage.

He pointed out that many cases of non-performing loans have underlining fraudulent content and the EFCC would stop at nothing to tackle such cases.

“We are careful of the way we come in, particularly when it comes to the issue of loan recovery. We look at the area of economic sabotage.

When somebody is granted a loan, particularly if the money is from the commonwealth or from investors’ resources in a bank and they divert the money or the money did not go to what it was meant for, obviously that is economic sabotage. More than 90% of the cases of bad loans have underlining fraud”, he said.

Earlier in his remark, Bello commended the EFCC for assisting his bank in handling several cases resulting from “abuse which was occasioned by all kinds of things, technical abuse of the process of lending money to beneficiaries of the bank.

So what we started doing was to see how we can redeem the situation. The EFCC helped us and played a leading role in the recovery of the monies that were given out fraudulently or without following due process”.

Commitment To Economic Growth

The NEXIM boss appealed to the EFCC to continue to assist his bank in the recovery of loans taken by former internal staffers of the bank.

He also sought collaboration with the Commission in the area of fraud prevention, especially “not allowing people to get into fraudulent activities and corruption; stopping those with virtual knowledge to engage in things that are unworthy. The EFCC has done a lot of engagement for those that are in that kind of business.

We can partner with the EFCC either as participants or stopping them from engaging in the fight on the bad side, we would be giving them an option to train and engage in the export value chain,” he said.

Court Jails Man 3 Months for Non-Declaration Of $30,000 at Airport: Lagos

Court jails man 3 months for non-declaration of $30,000 at Airport: Lagos. Justice Deinde I. Dipeolu of the Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos, on Wednesday, April 2, 2025, convicted and sentenced Okunfulure Olusola Steve to three Months imprisonment for money laundering.

The convict was arrested on March 28, 2025 at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos by operatives of the Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, for false currency declaration to the tune of $30,0000.

The NCS had, on Friday, March 28, 2025, handed him over to the Lagos Zonal Directorate 2 of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Okotie Eboh, Ikoyi, Lagos for further investigations.

Consequently, he was arraigned on Wednesday on one-count charge bordering on money laundering.

The count reads: “That you, Okunfulure Olusola Steve, on the 28th day of March, 2025 in Lagos, within the Jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, failed to make a declaration of the sum of $20,000 (Twenty Thousand United States Dollars) to the Nigerian Customs Service at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, and thereby committed an offence Contrary to and Punishable under Section 3(5) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.”

The defendant pleaded “guilty” to the charge when it was read to him.

Following his guilty plea, prosecution counsel, C.C. Okezie called on Felicia Paul, an operative of the EFCC, to review the facts of the case.

Paul, while giving details of how she knew the defendant, told the court that the NCS handed him over to the Lagos Zonal Directorate 2 of the EFCC on Friday, March 28, 2025.

Led in evidence by the prosecution counsel, Paul also told the court that the defendant was arrested with the sum of $30,000, which he failed to declare. She further told the court that “ his statement was recorded under caution and was served with the bail conditions.”

Thereafter, she identified the defendant’s statement, the handing-over note from the NCS, the arresting officer’s statement as well as the sum of $30,000(Thirty Thousand US Dollars) to the EFCC.

Okozie then sought to tender, in evidence, the documents.

Justice Dipeolu admitted and marked them as exhibits 1,2,3 and 4 and held that “ I have read the exhibits, the statement of the defendant, and I found him guilty. He is accordingly convicted as charged.”

Okezie thereafter prayed that the undeclared sum of $20,000 be forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria and that the defendant be jailed.

Defence counsel, Joel Ogundere, while addressing the court, said that the defendant “is a first-time offender and is not aware of the disclosure policy . He is a family man and has responsibilities. His bank account shows the legitimacy of the funds.”

Court

He also prayed the court to “ magnanimously waive any prison sentence”, adding that the convict would not mind forfeiting the sum of money or pay a fine.

Justice Dipeolu convicted and sentenced the defendant to three months imprisonment, with effect from the date of his arrest on March 28,2025. The Judge also ordered that the money be forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria.

Steve, a departing passenger on Delta Airline to Atlanta, United States had declared that he was not in possession of any sum of money in foreign currency but in Naira, while being profiled at the Currency Declaration Desk.

However, the sum of $30,000 undeclared was found on him during a search conducted by operatives of the NCS.

He was subsequently handed over to the Lagos Zonal Directorate 2 of the EFCC for further investigations, a development that led to his arraignment and conviction.

EFCC Tenders More Evidence Against Kore Holdings oOn Alleged $9.6b P&ID Scam

EFCC Tenders more Evidence against Kore Holdings on Alleged $9.6b P&ID Scam. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC on Wednesday, April 2, 2025 tendered additional evidence against Kore Holdings Limited before Justice J. O. Abdulmalik of the Federal High Court Abuja.

The Commission is prosecuting the company alongside Muhammed Kuchazi (now deceased) in connection with the Process & Industrial Development, P&ID fraud portfolio on amended four-count charges that border on non-compliance with Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment requirements, money laundering and other illegal acts.

At Wednesday’s proceedings, Second Prosecution Witness, PW2, Umar Hussein Babangida, while being led in his testimony by prosecution counsel, Bala Sangha, advanced eleven documents which were tendered in evidence in court. They include, a letter of request to Corporate Affairs Commission, CAC, letter of request to Special Control Unit against Money Laundering, SCUML, extra-judicial statements of Kuchazi which he voluntarily made to the EFCC, statements of other directors of the company: Mustapha Kuchazi, Bello Kuchazi, Belkisu Kuchazi, Aisha Kuchazi and statement of PW1, Temitope Erinomo.

EFCC

The witness, while disclosing that Kore Holdings Limited was not a liquidated entity but was active and did businesses in Nigeria, submitted that “The status of Kore Holdings Limited through our investigation and interaction with Corporate Affairs Commission, CAC and First Bank of Nigeria Limited revealed that there was no evidence to show that it was liquidated or closed up because the documents showed that the company is active.

“Kore Holding Limited and Muhammed Kuchazi continually facilitated meetings between Rilwanu Lukman, the then Minister of Petroleum and the Process and Industrial Developments, P&ID for a fee of three per cent of the net profit of P&ID project which led Kuchazi to testify against the Federal Republic of Nigeria in the High Court of England and Wales in the matter of Nigeria Vs P&ID in the first quarter of 2023 in which judgment was delivered in favour of Nigeria,” he said.

Justice Abdulmalik adjourned the matter till September 24, 2025 for continuation of trial.