Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Olanipekun Olukoyede, has revealed that he turned down N500 million in cash and cheque gifts from ministers, permanent secretaries, directors, and heads of agencies during his mother’s burial.
Olukoyede disclosed this on Thursday, February 27, 2025, at the 38th Anti-Corruption Situation Room (ACSR) Conference organized by the Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA Resource Centre) in Abuja.
The event, themed “Ethics, Integrity, Corruption Risk Assessments, and Anti-Corruption at National and Sub-National Levels in Nigeria: Sustaining the Fight Against Corruption,” focused on strategies to uphold accountability in governance
Recounting the experience, Olukoyede said the incident happened in 2019 while he was serving as the Secretary of the EFCC.
He was shocked to find 17 cows, including pregnant ones, in his compound, followed by a security guard presenting him with a carton full of cheques and drafts from government officials.
“When I got home, my gate man presented a box to me—a carton. Inside, I saw so many cheques and drafts from ministers, permanent secretaries, directors, and DGs of agencies. I showed it to my wife, and she said, ‘Praise God.’ But I asked, ‘Praise God for what?’ By the time we counted everything, it was close to N500 million,” he said.
Instead of keeping the money, Olukoyede said he returned every cheque with a formal letter to the senders.
He noted that while such gifts could be seen as traditional condolences, accepting them as an EFCC official would have raised ethical concerns, especially since some of the donors were under investigation by the commission.
“By July 2020, I was under investigation. Imagine if all those cheques had been deposited into my account. When they checked my bank accounts, what would have been my defense? People were already looking for opportunities to tarnish my reputation,” he added.
Olukoyede also shared another instance of upholding integrity while serving as the EFCC Secretary in charge of forfeited assets.
He recalled that during an auctioning process, his brother-in-law, an international auctioneer, applied to participate. Upon seeing the application, Olukoyede shredded it, refusing to consider it due to conflict of interest.
His personal assistant later informed his brother-in-law, who was displeased and refused to speak to him for six months.
Similarly, his elder brother approached him regarding the auction, asking to bid through a proxy. Olukoyede declined, citing the EFCC’s policy against family involvement in asset sales.
“Eight months later, a panel was set up to investigate EFCC’s activities, and I was placed on suspension alongside my chairman. Imagine if they had found my brother-in-law’s name among the auctioneers—I could have been in jail by now,” he said.