The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) says its intensified enforcement campaign against economic and financial crimes has yielded 10,872 convictions and recoveries of over ₦1.23 trillion, alongside hundreds of millions of dollars and other foreign currencies, in the 34 months under the leadership of its Executive Chairman, Ola Olukoyede.
Olukoyede disclosed this on Monday in Abuja while presenting the Commission’s three-year stewardship report, outlining its enforcement record, asset recovery efforts, institutional reforms and contribution to Nigeria’s financial and economic system.
According to him, the period, which commenced in October 2023, had been characterised by sustained investigations, prosecution, asset recovery, restitution, institutional reforms and stronger collaboration with domestic and international law-enforcement agencies.
He said the Commission received 49,673 petitions between October 2023 and July 2026, investigated 39,615 cases and filed 14,476 cases in court, securing 10,872 convictions.
Olukoyede said the figures represented a conviction-to-filing ratio of 75.1 per cent, while 1,370 convictions were secured from 1,889 court filings in the first half of 2026 alone.
He attributed the results to what he described as a prosecutorial approach anchored on evidence, diligence and courtroom outcomes, stressing that the Commission had remained focused on converting investigations into successful prosecutions.
The EFCC chairman said the nature of financial crimes was also changing, with data from 2024 to 2026 showing 46,288 offences across nine major typologies.
He said advance-fee fraud and cybercrime accounted for nearly two-thirds of the recorded offences, while procurement fraud, bank fraud, cybercrime and economic-governance offences recorded significant increases between 2024 and 2025.
According to him, total recorded offences increased by 24.1 per cent between 2024 and 2025, highlighting the growing threat posed by cyber-enabled financial crimes and other forms of economic exploitation.
Olukoyede stressed that the anti-graft campaign was therefore not restricted to grand corruption or cases involving public officials, but also involved protecting citizens, businesses and institutions from fraud and other forms of financial exploitation.
On high-profile cases, the EFCC chairman said the Commission had continued to investigate and prosecute former governors, ministers, heads of agencies, financial-sector operators and corporate officials without regard to status.
He cited recent convictions involving former Minister of Power, Saleh Mamman, former NEXIM Bank Managing Director, Robert Orya, and former Director of Finance and Administration at the Office of the National Security Adviser, Chukwunyere Nwabuoku.
He reiterated that no office or title would place anyone beyond the reach of the law, adding that the Commission would continue to investigate professionally, prosecute on the strength of evidence and allow the courts to determine guilt or innocence.
On asset recovery, Olukoyede said the Commission recorded ₦1.233 trillion in recoveries between October 1, 2023 and June 30, 2026, alongside $684.48 million, £373,905.78 and €9.34 million, in addition to recoveries in other currencies.
He said approximately ₦397.26 billion, representing 33 per cent of the naira recoveries, constituted direct recoveries for the Federal Government, while ₦836.34 billion, or 67 per cent, represented recoveries made on behalf of ministries, departments and agencies, state revenue services, companies, individuals and foreign victims.
Olukoyede said ₦661.32 billion and $492.37 million had been released to beneficiaries, including individuals, corporate organisations, government agencies and other rightful beneficiaries.
He said about ₦325.35 billion of the naira releases went directly to individuals and corporate bodies, while ₦335.97 billion was released to various ministries, departments and agencies, revenue authorities, public institutions, companies and individuals.
The EFCC boss said the Commission’s recovery efforts had also produced significant fiscal value for governments, with federal and state tax recoveries amounting to approximately ₦288.1 billion.
He put federal tax recoveries at about ₦173.2 billion and recoveries attributed to state internal revenue services at ₦114.9 billion.
Olukoyede further disclosed that approximately ₦257.2 billion in naira recoveries had been recorded for federal ministries, departments and agencies.
He said the impact of the recoveries extended beyond government revenue, noting that proceeds of crime had been deployed to support education, consumer credit and other productive national initiatives.
He recalled the Federal Government’s directive for ₦50 billion each to be allocated to the Nigerian Education Loan Fund and the Nigerian Consumer Credit Corporation from EFCC recoveries in 2024, with further ₦50 billion allocations to each institution subsequently approved in 2026.
The EFCC chairman also highlighted the conversion of the forfeited NOK University into the Federal University of Applied Sciences, Kachia, Kaduna State, where 1,909 students matriculated in December 2025.
Beyond cash recoveries, Olukoyede said the Commission secured the forfeiture of 10,053 tangible assets under interim and final court orders between October 2023 and July 2026.
The assets included 8,198 electronic items, 1,177 real estate assets, 370 automobiles and 251 plots of land, as well as schools, factories, hotels, shops, oil rigs, barges, machinery and aircraft.
He added that 102 tonnes of solid minerals were also forfeited, while proceeds from the disposal of assets under final forfeiture orders amounted to approximately ₦12.07 billion and were paid to the Federal Government.
On specialised enforcement, Olukoyede said the Commission recorded 920 cases involving money laundering, unlicensed bureaux de change, illegal mining, virtual assets and terrorist financing, securing 212 convictions.
He said the Commission was also responding to emerging financial-crime threats linked to virtual assets and illicit financial flows from the extractive sector.
Olukoyede said the EFCC’s enforcement activities also contributed to efforts that culminated in Nigeria’s removal from the Financial Action Task Force Grey List in October 2025, describing the development as a national achievement.
He said the Commission recorded 234 cases involving unlicensed bureaux de change and secured 73 convictions within the period, noting that the enforcement was aimed at supporting a more formal and transparent foreign-exchange market.
The EFCC chairman further underscored the importance of domestic and international cooperation in combating increasingly sophisticated and cross-border financial crimes.
He listed the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and INTERPOL among the Commission’s international partners.
At the regional level, Olukoyede disclosed that he had been re-elected President of the Network of National Anti-Corruption Institutions in West Africa for another three-year term.
He said the platform had strengthened regional cooperation on asset recovery, financial-crime enforcement and institutional development.
On institutional reforms, Olukoyede said the Commission had introduced new guidelines on arrest and bail, reviewed its sting operations and established the Department of Fraud Risk Assessment and Control, Security Department, Immigration and Visa Section and Cybercrime Rapid Response Centre.
He said the Commission had also commissioned its Enugu and Ilorin Directorates and established new directorates in Ekiti, Anambra and Katsina states to improve citizens’ access to its services.
Other reforms included policies on gifts and hospitality, conflict of interest and exhibit-room security, while the Internal Affairs Department was renamed and restructured as the Ethics and Integrity Department.
Olukoyede disclosed that nearly 60 per cent of the Commission’s processes and operations had been digitalised, with further investments in technology, including the EFCC Academy and its 24-hour Cybercrime Rapid Response Centre.
Looking ahead, the EFCC chairman said the Commission would deepen prevention, accelerate restitution, invest in better investigative technology and improve professionalism in its engagement with citizens.
He said the objective was to move beyond counting arrests and announcing recoveries to converting intelligence into prevention, investigations into prosecutions, prosecutions into convictions and recovered assets into measurable national value.
Olukoyede said the work was not finished, pledging renewed determination in the fight against corruption and economic crime while maintaining respect for due process and focusing on measurable benefits for Nigerians.
