President Bola Tinubu has appointed Mr. Ola Olukoyede as the Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to replace Mr. Abdulrasheed Bawa, who has been on suspension since 14th June.
According to a statement on Thursday by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Chief Ajuri Ngelale, Olukoyede’s appointment is for a renewable term of four years in the first instance, pending Senate confirmation.
The appointment was made in accordance with the powers vested in the President by section 2 (3) of the EFCC (Establishment) Act, 2004, that “the Chairman and members of the Commission, other than ex-officio members, shall be appointed by the President”.
The President also appointed Mr. Muhammad Hassan Hammajoda as the Secretary of the commission, “for a renewable term of five years in the first instance, pending Senate confirmation”.
Ngelale said: “Mr. Ola Olukoyede is a lawyer with 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.
“Mr. Olukoyede’s appointment follows the resignation of the suspended Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr. Abdulrasheed Bawa.
“Furthermore, President Bola Tinubu has approved the appointment of Mr. Muhammad Hassan Hammajoda to serve as the Secretary of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for a renewable term of five years in the first instance, pending Senate confirmation.
“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.
“President Bola Tinubu tasks the new leadership of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (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”.
The EFCC Chairman-designate was born in Ikere-Ekiti on 14th October 1969.
He is an alumnus of Lagos State University; University of Lagos; Institute of Arbitration ICC – Paris, France and University of Harvard (Kennedy School of Executive Education).
He is an experienced lawyer specialised in compliance management, corporate intelligence, and fraud management.
Olukoyede has extensive experience in the operations of the EFCC, having previously served as Chief of Staff to the Executive Chairman (2016-2018).
He served as the Secretary of the anti-graft agency between 2018 and 2023.
He is a Pastor of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, City of Refuge, Lagos Province 12.
He’s a member of the Federal Government Technical Committee on the Repositioning of the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit.
