The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has reported record-breaking asset recoveries during the 34 months of Ola Olukoyede’s tenure, recovering more than ₦1.23 trillion in naira alongside significant sums in foreign currencies, the agencies said on its official Facebook page the said on Monday.
Speaking to journalists, Chairman of the EFCC Olukoyede said the commission’s total naira recoveries reached ₦1,233,612,040,411.11, while recoveries in other currencies included $684,478,457.32, €9,343,803.66 and £373,905.78.
He told reporters the figures covered the period from October 2023 to July 2026.
The commission said roughly a third of the naira recovered — about ₦397.26bn — was returned directly to the federal government. The remainder, about ₦836.34bn, was recovered on behalf of Ministries, Departments, and Agencies, state revenue services, companies, individuals and foreign victims.
“Two out of every three naira recovered were on behalf of beneficiaries other than the federal government,” Olukoyede said.
On prosecutions, the EFCC said it received 49,673 petitions, investigated 39,615 matters and filed 14,476 cases in court over the period, securing 10,872 convictions — a conviction-to-filing ratio of 75.1%.
In the first half of 2026 alone, the commission reported 1,370 convictions from 1,889 filings. Olukoyede described the results as evidence of “a prosecutorial approach anchored on evidence and courtroom outcomes”.
He also drew attention to shifting threats in Nigeria’s financial-crime landscape.
EFCC data for 2024 to 2026 year-to-date recorded 46,288 offences across nine major categories, with advance-fee fraud and cybercrime together accounting for almost two-thirds of recorded incidents.
Total recorded offences rose by 24.1% between 2024 and 2025, driven by increases in procurement fraud, bank fraud, cybercrime and economic-governance offences.
“This tells us that the fight against economic and financial crime is not only about grand corruption,” Olukoyede said.
“Every day, we are protecting citizens, businesses and institutions from fraud, cyber‑enabled crime and other forms of economic exploitation.”
The commission said it has pursued high-profile and complex matters against former governors, ministers, agency heads, financial‑sector operators and corporate officials, while also building a specialised enforcement portfolio.
Between October 2023 and July 2026 the EFCC recorded 920 cases in areas including money‑laundering, unlicensed bureaux de change, illegal mining, virtual assets and terrorist financing, with 212 convictions and an active pipeline of investigations.
Beyond cash recoveries, the EFCC said it secured the forfeiture of 10,053 tangible assets under interim and final court orders in the period.
Those assets included 8,198 electronic items, 1,177 real‑estate properties, 370 vehicles, 251 plots of land and a range of commercial assets — schools, factories, hotels, oil rigs and aircraft — as well as 102 tonnes of solid minerals.
Proceeds from disposals under final forfeiture orders amounted to about ₦12.07bn and were paid to the federal government.
Chairman Olukoyede said recoveries had been channelled back into public interest and beneficiaries.
During the review period the commission released ₦661.32bn and US$492.37m to beneficiaries; the naira releases included around ₦325.35bn to individuals and corporate bodies and ₦335.97bn to various federal and state agencies and revenue services.
He added that federal and state tax recoveries through enforcement totalled about ₦288.1billion, reinforcing government revenue without imposing new taxes.
The chairman also highlighted instances where recovered assets were repurposed for public benefit.
He recalled a 2024 federal directive allocating ₦50bn from EFCC proceeds to the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) and ₦50bn to the Nigerian Consumer Credit Corporation, with further allocations in 2026.
Olukoyede also noted that a forfeited private university in Kachia, Kaduna state, had been converted into a Federal University of Applied Sciences and matriculated 1,909 students in December 2025.
According to Olukoyede, the commission’s work has helped “sanitize the fiscal space”, strengthen sub‑national revenue, return working capital to institutions and citizens, protect financial‑market integrity, and bolster Nigeria’s international credibility.
He argued that each successful prosecution and asset stripping reduces the expected payoff of economic crime, producing a “deterrence dividend”.
The EFCC also pointed to institutional reforms implemented under Mr Olukoyede’s leadership. Changes include new guidelines on arrest and bail, a review of sting‑operation procedures, creation of a Department of Fraud Risk Assessment and Control, a Security Department, an Immigration and Visa Section, and a Cybercrime Rapid Response Centre.
Enugu and Ilorin directorates were commissioned, and new offices opened in Ekiti, Anambra and Katsina, which the commission said improved citizen access. Internally, an Ethics and Integrity Department replaced the former Internal Affairs unit, and policies on gifts, hospitality and exhibit‑room security were introduced.
The agency said it was investing heavily in digitalisation, with almost 60% of processes already digitalised and ongoing projects including an EFCC academy and a 24/7 Cybercrime Rapid Response Centre (E‑C2R2).
Olukoyede credited EFCC casework among the factors behind Nigeria’s removal from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list in October 2025, calling it a national achievement.
