BREAKING: President Bola Tinubu Appoints New EFCC Chairman

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu recently confirmed the appointment of Ola Olukoyede as the new Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

This announcement was made by Ajuri Ngelale, the Presidential spokesman, who confirmed the appointment in a statement released a few hours ago.

He also stated that the new Chairman of the EFCC is for a renewable term of four years in the first instance, pending Senate confirmation.

This is following some happenings that occurred in the anti-graft agency since the President came into office on May 29, 2023.

The former Chairman of the EFCC, Abdulrasheed Bawa, was suspended from office on June 14, 2023, after allegations referring to abuse of office were reported. 

Following the suspension, President Bola Tinubu instructed the Director of Operations of the Commission, Abdulkarim Chukkol, to step in as the acting EFCC Chairman, while Bawa followed the Department of State Services (DSS) to be probed.

However, with Thursday’s appointment, Olukoyede became the new helmsman of the commission.

On the appointment of Olukoyede this Thursday, the Presidential spokesman, Ajuri Ngelale, said that the decision for Tinubu to appoint the new EFCC chair came from the powers vested in him as established in Section 2(3) of the EFCC (Establishment) Act, 2004.

His statement partly reads,

• Mr. Ola Olukoyede is a lawyer with over twenty-two (22) years of experience as a regulatory compliance consultant and specialist in fraud management and corporate intelligence.

• He has extensive experience in the operations of the EFCC, having previously served as Chief of Staff to the Executive Chairman (2016-2018) and Secretary to the Commission (2018-2023). As such, he fulfills the statutory requirement for appointment as Chairman of the EFCC.

Ngelale said that the appointment of Olukoyede is coming following the resignation of Bawa.

Also, the President appointed Muhammad Hammajoda as the Secretary to the EFCC for a renewable term of five years in the first instance, pending Senate confirmation.

He added,

Mr. Muhammad Hassan Hammajoda is a public administrator with extensive experience in public finance management who holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from the University of Maiduguri and a Masters in Business Administration from the same university.

He began his career as a lecturer at the Federal Polytechnic, Mubi. From there, he went into banking, including successful stints at the defunct Allied Bank and Standard Trust Bank.

The President charged the newly elected leadership of the EFCC to justify the confidence given to them in this important national assignment as a newly invigorated war on corruption undertaken through a reformed institutional architecture in the anti-corruption sector remains a central pillar of the President’s Renewed Hope agenda.