Corruption Crackdown: EFCC's Historic N1 Trillion Recovery from Politicians

Nigeria's double-edged problems of corruption and poor governance would take a long time to overcome, even with the country's modest improvement in the 2024 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI).

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) collected approximately N1 trillion in cash and assets in 2024, the largest amount of proceeds of crime recovered by the anti-graft agency since its founding in 2003, according to information obtained by The Guardian over the weekend.

Yobe (N217 billion), Gombe (N207.75 billion), Ebonyi (N202.13 billion), Nasarawa (N199.88 billion), and Ekiti states (N159.57 billion) collectively have budgets for 2024 that are covered by this sum alone.

In an attempt to lessen the severe hardship brought on by the current administration's economic policies, the recovered loot will conveniently pay approximately 1.2 million civil servants for a full year at the current minimum wage of N70,000. Additionally, 25 million Nigerians or families will benefit from that amount if they use it to buy the Federal Government's subsidized rice, which is priced at N40,000 per 50kg bag.

Nigeria moved up from 145th to 140th place out of 180 countries in the 2024 CPI, scoring 26 out of 100, up from 25 in 2023, according to the most recent study from Transparency International (TI). However, even while this slight improvement would indicate some progress in the battle against corruption, the frequent discovery of enormous The amounts that prominent Nigerians and Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs) have seized and forfeited to the Federal Government reveal the underlying problems impeding development in Africa's most populous nation, further depressing many of its citizens despite the current administration's attempts to "renew" hope.

Olanipekun Olukoyede, the chairman of the EFCC, recently revealed how he turned down offers of N500 million at his mother's 2019 funeral, which only served to highlight the decay.

Then-President Muhammadu Buhari has just named him Secretary of the Commission. He clarified that he received the sizeable gifts—which included checks and drafts—from directors, permanent secretaries, ministers, and other senior government officials.

In a factsheet that was submitted to President Bola Tinubu, which primarily focused on the activities of EFCC in 2024, a copy of which was sighted by The Guardian, the Commission secured 4,111 convictions out of the 5,083 cases filed in court – the highest number of convictions secured in any operational year from inception to date. This was after it had, throughout the year in review, investigated 12,928 cases from the 15,724 petitions received.
   
According to EFCC, cases involving Advance Fee Fraud (419), money laundering, and cybercrime were the most prevalent in its investigations. “The high volume of these cases can be attributed to several factors, including rising unemployment, a desire for quick wealth among the youth, a large informal economy, and weak regulatory frameworks. Additionally, cybercriminals continuously evolve tactics, incorporating innovations like AI-driven fraud, deepfakes, and advanced phishing schemes.”
 
The bulk of the petitions received were from its Lagos office (3,224), followed by 1,576 received at its headquarters in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and the zonal offices of Kaduna (1,456), Enugu (1,362), Kano (1,270) and Port Harcourt (1,185).
 
More staggering in the report were the monetary recoveries and asset forfeiture. The amounts recovered in different currencies include N364,597,370,151.35, $214,513,439.55, £54,318.64 and €31,265.00, among others. The impact of this is the future of children yet unborn already stolen.
   
Assets forfeited to the Federal Government last year alone are: 223 automobiles, five barges/vessels, 975 real estate, 40,844,094 units of shares worth N1,055,190,044.55 and $4,414,801.76, N250,000,000.00 in treasury bills, 70tons of unidentified solid minerals, and crypto values – 13.37BTC worth $572,992.86, 5.97886094 Ethereum worth $13,353.06, and 1,002.547631 USDT ($1,002.22).
   
While the identities of those whose assets and cash were recovered were conspicuously missing in the report, EFCC stated that the Federal Government has reinvested some monetary recoveries into initiatives that significantly benefit  Nigerians and support the country’s long-term development goals.  
   
“An example is the N50 billion granted to the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) by the Federal Government from the monetary recoveries of the Commission. This initiative provides loans to Nigerian students in higher education who cannot afford the cost, enabling them to stay in school, complete their degree and be in a position to make constructive contributions to the Nigerian labour force.   
 
 “Also worthy of mention is the recovery and subsequent forfeiture to the Federal Government of over 750 duplexes and other apartments in late 2024. This is the single largest recovery in the Commission since inception. The Commission continues to ensure that those who steal our commonwealth do not benefit from it through asset/monetary recovery. Our investigators have recorded commendable successes in identifying, tracing and recovering money and assets pilfered by individuals/corporate including politically exposed persons,” the report explained. 
   
Responding, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media, Publicity and Special Duties, Tunde Rahman, saluted the EFCC for doing a yeoman’s job in prosecuting the anti-corruption programme of the President Bola Tinubu administration. 
   
“We have seen more arrests, prosecution and recoveries than ever before particularly since Mr Ola Olukoyede got into the saddle as Chairman. He has done a lot within the confines of the law. I say this because I’m aware of it.
   
“There is even something more instructive in what Olukoyede’s EFCC has been doing. Some of the recoveries the commission has made are going into the government’s social intervention programmes for the most vulnerable segments of society. For instance, only recently, the commission donated N50 billion to NELFUND from its recovery account to partly fund the loan to indigent university students. Arrests and prosecution are going on. So I believe very soon, this will impact Nigeria’s ranking on the corruption index,” he said. 
   
With the recoveries already made in the first 10 weeks of 2025, coupled with the arrests of high-profile politicians and cyber crime suspects in their dozens, the Commission is well on its way to exceeding its 2024 feat in assets recovery. 
   
The EFCC chairman gave an inkling of this recently when he warned Local Government chairmen across the country to be prudent and accountable as they do not have immunity from investigation or prosecution for fraud like the president and governors. And with the Supreme Court ruling that has directed the Federal Government to pay LG allocations directly to the councils, Olukoyede added that the EFCC would not wait until the end of any local government chairman’s tenure before initiating a probe.
   
But beyond these unending discoveries of sleaze among the nation’s leaders, the EFCC has been urged to strengthen its enforcement capabilities and address emerging digital threats by harnessing technological innovations in its enforcement and prevention efforts.
   
The Executive Director of the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) and head of Transparency International (TI) in Nigeria, Auwal Musa Rafsanjani, said it is insufficient to recover these assets. Still, transparent management is key, and the speedy prosecution of cases serves as a deterrent. 
   
“Asset recovery is one of the tools in fighting corruption because when people loot public funds, and the government makes vigorous efforts to recover those assets and put them for public use, it will go a long way in terms of addressing the victims of corruption, which the actions of corrupt persons had denied them access to basic things like health, education, infrastructure and resources meant for security to protect citizens. 
   
“We must salute the effort of both EFCC and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) in terms of their determination to ensure that those who have looted or stole public resources do not enjoy the proceeds of crime. We encourage them to continue with this patriotic work. It is good to see that officials are risking their lives to recover these assets for the nation’s benefit. We believe that if the recovery of assets continues, especially transparently, it will help fight corruption. Whether these recoveries will help improve Nigeria’s rating in terms of TI ranking will be determined by the transparent administration and management of the recovered assets/loots. 
   
“More work still needs to be done in the prevention of corruption, especially in the public sector. It is also important that the government ensure there is a proper synergy, coordination and sharing of information and data among the various agencies that are recovering assets. Currently, several agencies like EFCC, ICPC, police, Customs, and the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) recovering assets should ensure a transparent process is put in place, which will improve the public perception of corruption in Nigeria. 
   
Senior Advocate of Nigeria and human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, on his part  urged anti-corruption agencies to take firmer steps, including cracking down on individuals who organise protests in defence of corrupt officials.
   
“It is not freedom of expression when people gather to protect someone who has stolen public money. That is freedom to support corruption,” Falana said. He challenged the EFCC to take legal action against such individuals, arguing that they obstruct justice. He also called for establishing anti-corruption agencies at state and local government levels to ensure proper use of public funds.
 
 “Nigeria’s money is not only being stolen at the federal level. There is massive looting in states and local governments too. We need strong anti-corruption bodies across the country,” he stated.
   
To nip the corruption menace in the bud, the African Centre for Media and Information Literacy (AFRICMIL) has urged the Minister of Finance, Olawale Edun, to expedite action over the prolonged delay in passing Nigeria’s whistleblower protection bill into law. 
 
 AFRICMIL’s Coordinator, Dr Chido Onumah, who last week wrote a letter to the minister, emphasised that a legal framework to safeguard whistleblowers is long overdue, stressing its crucial role in promoting transparency, accountability, and good governance. Onumah expressed concern over the lack of progress in the West Africa region, noting that Ghana remains the only ECOWAS country with a whistleblower protection law.
   
The whistleblowing policy, introduced in 2016 by the Federal Ministry of Finance, was designed to encourage citizens to report fraud, bribery, and looted government funds. However, its effectiveness has waned over the years, prompting the Federal Government to approve a new whistleblower draft bill in December 2022. Despite this, Onumah lamented that the 9th National Assembly failed to pass the bill into law, leaving potential whistleblowers vulnerable to retaliation.

“This is an agency established by former president Olusegun Obasanjo in 2003 primarily to fight corruption which has become endemic in our country. Although combating online fraudsters was not the EFCC's main goal when it was founded, it is expected that the agency will take on the issue head-on given how commonplace it has become. However, in order to gain public support, the EFCC must alter its approach.

In recent years, my perception of the commission has evolved. While I will not disparage their genuine attempts, I will also not act as though they are making progress. There are issues with nepotism, partisanship, corruption, and professionalism at the Commission. Public trust has not been bolstered by their approach. The way they treat other instances differs from how they treat politicians.