Keypoints:
- More than 40 EFCC staff dismissed
- Several former officers face prosecution
- New ethics rules target internal misconduct
NIGERIA’S main anti-corruption agency has dismissed more than 40 of its own employees for alleged corruption and financial misconduct, exposing an uncomfortable integrity challenge inside the institution responsible for pursuing some of the country’s biggest financial crime cases.
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission chairman Ola Olukoyede disclosed the dismissals during a briefing in Abuja assessing the agency’s performance since he took office in October 2023. More than five former officials are already facing prosecution, while case files are being prepared against others.
The disclosure places unusual scrutiny on the anti-graft agency itself. While the dismissals may demonstrate a willingness to confront misconduct internally, they also raise questions about the effectiveness of safeguards inside an organisation whose authority depends heavily on the integrity of its investigators and prosecutors.
Watchdog turns scrutiny inward
Olukoyede said officials found engaging in conduct similar to offences investigated by the EFCC should not escape accountability simply because they work for the commission.
‘In the past two-and-a-half years or three years of my service, I’ve asked them to dismiss over 40 staff on account of corruption and financial malpractice,’ he told journalists.
He said more than five of those dismissed were already being prosecuted and indicated that further cases were being prepared.
The disclosure represents a significant test for an organisation that sits at the centre of Nigeria’s fight against corruption and financial crime.
The EFCC investigates money laundering, fraud, diversion of public funds and other financial offences, frequently pursuing politicians, public officials and business figures.
Africa Briefing recently reported how an EFCC prosecution led to the conviction of former power minister Saleh Mamman over the diversion of funds connected to major hydroelectric projects.
Ethics rules tightened
Olukoyede said the commission had strengthened its internal controls as part of wider efforts to improve professional standards within the agency.
The Internal Affairs Department has been renamed and restructured as the Ethics and Integrity Department, while a gifts and hospitality policy has also been introduced to address potential conflicts of interest.
Under the policy, officers are required to declare gifts above a specified threshold. Olukoyede did not publicly state the threshold but said the rules extended to some gifts received from relatives abroad.
‘You must be sure that your hands are clean. You can’t be fighting corruption when your hands are soiled with corrupt practices,’ he said.
The reforms come as the EFCC continues to defend Nigeria’s record in combating corruption. Africa Briefing previously reported that the EFCC challenged Nigeria’s poor position in a global corruption ranking, arguing that enforcement efforts were producing measurable results.
Questions remain over dismissals
Despite the scale of the internal disciplinary action, important questions remain unanswered.
Further details about the alleged misconduct involving the former employees have not been made public, with the EFCC saying the information was unavailable.
That leaves limited public information about the precise allegations behind the dismissals and makes it difficult to determine the scale and nature of the misconduct involved.
The issue matters because institutional credibility is central to effective anti-corruption enforcement. Agencies that investigate wrongdoing elsewhere in government are inevitably judged by how rigorously they police their own personnel.
Nigeria has pursued a series of high-profile corruption cases at home and abroad, although complex investigations do not always result in convictions.
Africa Briefing recently examined that difficulty after the collapse of Britain’s prosecution of former Nigerian oil minister Diezani Alison-Madueke, highlighting the challenges involved in turning major corruption investigations into successful courtroom outcomes.
EFCC cites recoveries and convictions
Alongside the internal dismissals, Olukoyede presented figures showing a substantial volume of enforcement activity since he assumed office.
According to the commission, the EFCC received 49,673 petitions, investigated 39,615 cases, filed 14,476 cases in court and secured 10,872 convictions between October 2023 and July 2026.
In the first half of 2026 alone, Olukoyede said the commission recorded 1,370 convictions from 1,889 court filings.
The EFCC also reported recovering about ₦1.233tn in naira-denominated proceeds, alongside $684.48m and additional amounts in other foreign currencies during the first 34 months of Olukoyede’s leadership.
Those figures are performance statistics reported by the commission itself and provide one measure of the scale of its enforcement activity.
Olukoyede said the results reflected what he described as an evidence-led prosecutorial strategy focused on obtaining courtroom outcomes.
Cybercrime reshapes enforcement
The EFCC’s caseload also appears to be evolving beyond its traditional association with corruption cases involving senior public officials.
Figures presented at the briefing indicate that cybercrime, fraud and related financial offences are occupying an increasingly significant share of the commission’s workload.
That shift reflects the changing nature of financial crime in Nigeria, where digital fraud networks, online scams and cross-border financial schemes have become major enforcement challenges.
For the EFCC, however, the disclosure that dozens of its own personnel have been dismissed creates a different test of institutional credibility.
Removing officials suspected of wrongdoing may demonstrate stronger internal enforcement. But the broader measure of accountability will be whether allegations against former staff are investigated transparently, prosecuted where evidence warrants it and subjected to the same standards the commission applies to those outside its ranks.
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