By Isaac Aregbesola
The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr Ola Olukoyede, says the commission is shifting focus from waiting for crimes to occur to preventing them through early detection and asset freezing.
Olukoyede disclosed this on Monday in Abuja at a media interactive session marking his third year in office.
He said the EFCC had established the Fraud Risk Assessment and Control Department (FRAC) to monitor suspicious financial movements and act within 72 hours.
“Why must we be waiting for money to be stolen? When we see money moving suspiciously, we move in and freeze. Pending 72 hours, we ask: where is this money going?” he said.
The EFCC chairman cited an example of funds moved from a local government account to a company and then into cryptocurrency wallets, saying such trends informed the need for proactive action.
He noted that public officials were now stealing funds and moving them into crypto wallets within 24 hours, often through young people, making recovery difficult.
“At the press of a button, you can collapse the entire banking industry in Nigeria. Most of the data we are investigating now, you can’t trace tangible assets to them,” he said.
To address this, Olukoyede said about 40 virtual asset platforms had been licensed in Nigeria and the Commission now has capacity to trace registered wallets.
He added that with presidential approval, the EFCC and relevant agencies had created a national confiscation wallet for storing seized cryptocurrencies.
“One of the problems we used to have was where do you put confiscated virtual assets. Today we have a national wallet that we put them into,” he said.
On legal strategy, Olukoyede said the commission was leveraging Section 17 of the Advance Fee Fraud Act to pursue civil asset forfeiture instead of waiting for lengthy criminal trials.
“This is faster and quicker than criminal trial. We don’t have to wait 10, 15 years when witnesses die and assets are dissipated,” he said.
He explained that under the civil process, the Commission can file action against the asset directly and whoever claims ownership must also explain the source of funds.
The EFCC boss said the approach had yielded results in several ongoing cases involving assets traced to former officials.
On asset management, he said the Commission does not manage forfeited assets directly but appoints professionals in line with the Proceeds of Crime Act 2022.
“For real estate we have estate managers. For virtual assets we have stock market professionals. For a radio station we call broadcast experts,” he said.
He said the EFCC had also begun disposing assets that were depreciating under litigation and putting proceeds in escrow accounts pending court determination.
Olukoyede added that some high-profile hotels recently forfeited in Lagos now have new management, with banks directed to remit all sales and income to the EFCC.
He said a dedicated Process and Proceeds Management (PCM) directorate had been set up to oversee all forfeited assets.
The chairman called for stronger policy and institutional reforms, saying law enforcement alone cannot win the war against financial crime.
“The most effective system is not law enforcement. It is the policy regime, institutional reforms that close leakages,” he said.
He urged the media and civil society to return to their watchdog role in the fight against corruption. (NAN)
Edited by Mark Longyen