The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Olanipekun Olukoyede, revealed on February 27, 2025, that he turned down N500 million offered to him during his mother’s funeral by various high-ranking officials, including ministers, permanent secretaries, directors, and agency heads.
Olukoyede shared this at the Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA Resource Centre) 38th Anti-Corruption Situation Room (ACSR) Conference in Abuja. The event was themed ‘Ethics, Integrity, Corruption Risk Assessments, and Anti-Corruption at National and Sub-National Levels in Nigeria: Sustaining the Fight Against Corruption.’
Recalling the events of 2019, Olukoyede explained that when his mother passed away, he was the EFCC Secretary at the time. He had returned home a day before the funeral and found 17 cows, including pregnant ones, in his compound. Upon entering his house, his gatekeeper presented a box containing multiple checks and drafts from officials. When Olukoyede and his wife tallied the checks, they amounted to nearly N500 million.
Despite the large sum, Olukoyede chose to return the checks. He said that while such offerings could be seen as traditional gifts, he questioned the appropriateness of accepting them as EFCC Secretary. “I did the burial in September 2019. By July 2020, I was under investigation. If those cheques had been deposited into my account as gifts, how would I have explained that when they checked my accounts?” he reflected. He emphasized that it would have been difficult to justify the large sums, especially in light of the EFCC’s ongoing investigations.
Olukoyede also discussed his refusal to allow his brother-in-law and elder brother to bid in an auction process he managed, as part of his duties in handling forfeited assets at the EFCC. Despite his brother-in-law being a professional auctioneer, Olukoyede shredded his application and rejected his elder brother’s attempts to get involved. He noted that such actions were necessary to avoid any conflicts of interest, highlighting that EFCC regulations prohibited any staff member or their immediate family from participating in such processes.
Recalling an investigation into EFCC’s activities, Olukoyede reflected on how his refusal to allow family involvement in the auction might have protected him from potential scrutiny or legal consequences. He emphasized the importance of integrity, saying, “That’s what you call integrity. When you go beyond a level of expectation.”
