The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede, has defended the agency’s decision to temporarily freeze suspicious accounts, saying the commission must act before public funds are stolen or transferred beyond recovery.
Olukoyede disclosed that the EFCC recently froze an account for 72 hours after detecting suspicious transfers from a local government account to a company. He said investigators subsequently discovered that the funds had been moved into cryptocurrency wallets.
“When we see money moving suspiciously, we move in and freeze it in the interim. I know some of you are calling for my head,” Olukoyede said.
He questioned why law enforcement agencies should wait until public funds are stolen before intervening, arguing that the focus should shift towards preventing suspicious transactions from being completed.
The EFCC chairman’s comments came amid controversy over the commission’s earlier freezing of an Osun State Government account shortly before the August 15 governorship election. However, Olukoyede did not link the transaction he cited to Osun State or any other particular state.
He also warned that cybercrime in Nigeria had evolved beyond the traditional “Yahoo Yahoo” phenomenon, alleging that some public officials now use young people and students as fronts to move illicit funds through cryptocurrency wallets.
According to him, officials under investigation increasingly conceal allegedly stolen funds in crypto wallets, which can then be transferred abroad and used to purchase properties and luxury items.
Olukoyede said the EFCC had developed the capacity to trace cryptocurrency wallets, particularly those linked to virtual asset platforms registered in Nigeria.
He disclosed that about 40 virtual asset platforms had been licensed following regulatory measures aimed at strengthening oversight of the sector.
The EFCC boss also revealed that the commission had recovered virtual assets linked to the CBEX fraud but said the management and accountability of confiscated cryptocurrency had previously posed a challenge.
He said the Federal Government had now approved the establishment of a national confiscation wallet where virtual assets recovered by law enforcement agencies would be held.
“Today, now we have a national confiscation wallet. So if I confiscate virtual assets now, it’s a national wallet that we put into those,” he said.
Olukoyede further urged Nigerians to understand the changing nature of cybercrime, stressing that some young people accused of internet fraud could be acting on behalf of powerful individuals and international networks.
He said the EFCC’s anti-corruption activities had also contributed to revenue mobilisation, with approximately N288.1 billion recovered in federal and state tax-related cases over the period under review.
The figure, he said, comprised N173.2 billion in federal tax recoveries and N114.9 billion attributed to State Internal Revenue Services.
Olukoyede also disclosed that more than 40 EFCC personnel had been dismissed over alleged corruption and financial malpractice within the past two-and-a-half to three years.
He said some of the dismissed officers were already facing prosecution, while case files involving others were being prepared for prosecution.