EFCC Turns Enforcement Inward, Sacks 40 Staff Over Corruption and Financial Misconduct

Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission is turning its anti-corruption mandate inward, with Chairman Ola Olukoyede disclosing that more than 40 employees have been dismissed for corruption and financial malpractice over the past three years.

Olukoyede made the disclosure on Monday during a briefing at the EFCC headquarters in Abuja, where he reviewed the commission’s enforcement record and institutional reforms since taking office. More than five of the affected personnel are already facing prosecution, while case files involving others are being prepared for court.

The disclosure places internal integrity at the centre of the EFCC’s enforcement agenda, raising the stakes for governance, ethics and accountability within an agency responsible for investigating and prosecuting financial crime across Nigeria.

Olukoyede said EFCC personnel accused of corruption should not receive lesser treatment than suspects outside the agency. The position effectively extends the commission’s enforcement doctrine to its own workforce, with dismissal no longer necessarily marking the end of disciplinary action where alleged criminal conduct is involved.

The commission has also renamed its former Department of Internal Affairs as the Department of Ethics and Integrity, signalling a broader institutional focus on internal controls and professional conduct.

A new gift policy is another element of the reform programme. Under the proposed framework, personnel will be required to declare gifts and assets above a specified threshold, including gifts received from relatives abroad. The policy is intended to strengthen transparency around officers’ lifestyles, assets and potential conflicts of interest.

The move comes as the EFCC reports more than N1.23 trillion and $684.48 million recovered between October 2023 and July 2026, alongside 10,872 convictions.

For compliance professionals, the message is clear. An institution cannot credibly enforce financial crime controls externally while tolerating integrity failures internally. The EFCC’s internal cleansing drive therefore represents not simply a disciplinary exercise, but a test of institutional credibility and enforcement consistency.