The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has recovered N1.23tn, $684.47m, £373,905.78 and €9.34m in proceeds of crime and secured 10,872 convictions during the first 34 months of Ola Olukoyede’s tenure as chairman.
Mr Olukoyede disclosed the figures on Monday while presenting his three-year stewardship report at the EFCC headquarters in Abuja.
The commission received 49,673 petitions between October 2023 and July 2026, investigated 39,615 cases and filed 14,476 cases in court, resulting in the 10,872 convictions.
Mr Olukoyede said this represented a 75.1 per cent conviction-to-filing ratio, while 1,370 convictions were secured from 1,889 filings in the first half of 2026 alone.
Where the recovered money went
Giving a detailed breakdown, Mr Olukoyede said the EFCC recovered N1,233,612,040,411.11, $684,478,457.32, £373,905.78 and €9,343,803.66 between October 1, 2023 and June 30, 2026.
About N397.26bn, representing 33 per cent of the naira recovery, was recovered directly for the Federal Government, while N836.34bn, or 67 per cent, was recovered on behalf of ministries, departments and agencies, state revenue services, companies, individuals and foreign victims.
“Recovery is only meaningful when the value is ultimately returned to the public interest or rightful beneficiaries,” Mr Olukoyede said.
He disclosed that N661.32bn and $492.37m had already been released to beneficiaries.
Of the naira amount, N325.35bn was paid directly to individuals and corporate bodies, while N335.97bn went to government institutions, revenue services, companies and other beneficiaries.
EFCC cleans up its ranks
Mr Olukoyede also revealed that more than 40 EFCC personnel had been dismissed over corruption and financial malpractice during his tenure, with more than five of them currently facing prosecution.
He said the anti-graft agency could not effectively fight corruption while tolerating it within its own ranks.
“You can’t be fighting corruption when your hands are soiled with corrupt practices,” he said.
The former Internal Affairs Department has also been renamed the Department of Ethics and Integrity, while new policies covering gifts and hospitality, conflict of interest and exhibit-room security have been introduced.
Cybercrime, fraud remain major challenges
The EFCC chairman said the commission recorded 46,288 financial crime offences across nine major crime categories between 2024 and 2026 year-to-date.
Advance fee fraud and cybercrime accounted for almost two-thirds of the offences, while overall recorded offences increased by 24.1 per cent between 2024 and 2025.
Mr Olukoyede said the commission was increasingly focused on protecting ordinary Nigerians, businesses and institutions from fraud, cyber-enabled crimes and other forms of economic exploitation.
The EFCC has also intensified enforcement against money laundering, unlicensed bureaux de change, illegal mining, virtual assets and terrorist financing.
High-profile cases
Mr Olukoyede reaffirmed that the EFCC would continue investigating and prosecuting high-profile Nigerians regardless of their political positions or social status.
He cited the convictions of former Minister of Power, Saleh Mamman, Robert Orya and Chukwunyere Nwabuoku as examples.
“No office, title or social status should place anyone beyond the reach of the law,” he said.
Tax and asset recoveries
Beyond proceeds of crime, the commission recorded approximately N288.1bn in federal and state tax recoveries.
This comprised N173.2bn in federal tax recoveries and N114.9bn for state internal revenue services.
The EFCC also secured forfeiture orders covering 10,053 tangible assets, including 8,198 electronic items, 1,177 real estate properties, 370 automobiles and 251 plots of land.
Other forfeited assets included schools, factories, hotels, shops, oil rigs, barges, machinery and aircraft, as well as 102 tonnes of solid minerals. Proceeds from the disposal of assets under final forfeiture orders amounted to about N12.07bn.
Recovered funds used for public benefit
Mr Olukoyede highlighted the conversion of NOK University in Kachia, Kaduna State, into the Federal University of Applied Sciences, Kachia, as an example of how recovered assets could be turned into public value.
He said the institution had 1,909 students matriculating in December 2025.
He also disclosed that the Federal Government allocated N50bn each from EFCC recoveries to the Nigerian Education Loan Fund and the Nigerian Consumer Credit Corporation in 2024, with additional N50bn allocations to each institution approved in 2026.
Digital reforms and international cooperation
The EFCC chairman said about 60 per cent of the commission’s processes and operations had been digitalised.
The commission has also introduced new arrest and bail guidelines, reviewed its sting operations and established specialised units, including the Department of Fraud Risk Assessment and Control and the Cybercrime Rapid Response Centre.
Mr Olukoyede attributed part of the commission’s progress to collaboration with international agencies including the US Federal Bureau of Investigation, UK National Crime Agency, Royal Canadian Mounted Police and INTERPOL.
For Nigerians, the figures go beyond the amount recovered or the number of convictions. The EFCC says the objective is to ensure that money and assets recovered from financial crimes ultimately return to the public interest and strengthen government revenue, education, credit and other areas of national development.
Mr Olukoyede said the commission’s ultimate responsibility was to transform intelligence into prevention, investigations into prosecutions, prosecutions into convictions and recoveries into restitution.
“The ultimate objective is to turn enforcement into measurable national value,” he said.
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