The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Olanipekun Olukoyede, has revealed that he turned down financial offers totalling nearly N500 million from high-ranking officials during his mother’s burial in 2019.
Olukoyede made this revelation at the 38th Anti-Corruption Situation Room in Abuja, an event focused on ethics, integrity, and corruption risk assessments. The programme was organised by the Human and Environmental Development Agenda Resource Centre, the Kano State Public Complaint and Anti-Corruption Commission, the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC), and the EFCC with support from the MacArthur Foundation.
Olukoyede recounted how he returned to his family home in Ekiti State after his mother’s burial and discovered an unusual sight. “I lost my mother in the year 2019 (in Ekiti State). We went for the funeral. I was the secretary of the EFCC then. People came. So I went to my place a day before the funeral service. By the time I got to my small compound, which I built several years ago before I joined the EFCC, I saw about 17 cows in my compound, including pregnant ones. When I got home, my gate man presented a box (carton) to me and inside it, I saw so many cheques and drafts from ministers, permanent secretaries, directors, DGs of agencies, etc. And so, I went in and showed it to my wife. She said, ‘Praise God’. I said, ‘Praise God for what?’ By the time we put all the cheques together, it counted close to N500m.”
He explained his concerns about keeping the money, stating that accepting the money and depositing it in his bank account could have had severe consequences, especially given his role in the EFCC.
“I did the burial in September 2019. By July 2020, I was under investigation. Now, assuming all those cheques were paid into my account as traditional gifts and some of the MDAs that we were investigating in the EFCC, some of their directors and their DGs and their ministers sent cheques to me. Ordinarily, I mean for burial, some gave me one million, N20m and all of that. Even though that would not have influenced my decision if I was in a position to determine what would happen to their investigations, how would I have explained before a panel that they saw cheques paid into my account? So, assuming they found those cheques paid into my account, would it have been a good defence for me to say it was my mother’s burial when they were looking for me to roast? For me, that is what you call integrity. When you go beyond a level of expectation.”
Olukoyede also spoke about another situation where he had to uphold ethical standards, even when it involved his family. He said that as the Secretary of the EFCC, he was part of a committee responsible for auctioning forfeited assets. According to him, his brother-in-law, an international auctioneer, applied for the auction.
“My chairman then, we agreed that we should select a committee. So, we selected an assets forfeiture committee of about six directors, including myself as the chairman of the committee and a few other staff. We advertised for auctioneers. So, they applied. We were able to shortlist about 11 of them. My brother-in-law happens to be an international auctioneer. He applied. His application came to me. I saw it and I shredded it. So, my PA who knew him, called him and told him what I did, and for six months, he did not talk to me. So we did the auction.”
He also turned down his elder brother, who wanted to acquire a truck from the auction. “One of my elder brothers called me. ‘I heard you are doing an auction. I needed a truck for my business. I said, ‘Sir, go and read what we published.’ Conflict of interest. No staff of EFCC or immediate members of the family is allowed. He said no, they would use another name. I knew they could do that. I told him that I was not interested.”
Months later, Olukoyede and his chairman were placed under suspension and investigated over EFCC activities, including the auction. He reflected on what could have happened if his brother-in-law’s name had been found among the auctioneers.
“After about eight months down the line, they set up a panel to investigate activities of the EFCC. My chairman and I were placed on suspension. They began to investigate what we did in the office. They investigated the particular auction I did in Port Harcourt. Now, assuming they found the name of my brother-in-law as one of the auctioneers. What would have been the result? Probably I may be in jail by now.”
