The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Olanipekun Olukoyede, has revealed that he returned N500 million ‘bribes’ offered to him in disguise as gifts during his mother’s funeral in 2019.
Speaking at the 38th Anti-Corruption Situation Room in Abuja on Thursday, Olukoyede disclosed that the money came in the form of cheques and bank drafts from ministers, permanent secretaries, directors, and other high-ranking officials.
According to him, he was serving as the Secretary of the EFCC at that time.
He narrated, “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,” he recalled.
“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.
“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.”
Olukoyede explained that he ultimately decided to return the money, knowing it could compromise his integrity, especially if any of the donors later became subjects of EFCC investigations.
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“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 we were investigating in the EFCC—some of their directors, their DGs, and their ministers—sent cheques to me, 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 defense 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,” he stated.
The EFCC chairman also recounted how he rejected attempts by family members to benefit from a government auction of forfeited assets during his tenure as EFCC Secretary.
He revealed that his brother-in-law, an international auctioneer, applied for the bidding process, but he shredded the application.
He continued, “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.
Similarly, his elder brother sought to acquire a truck from the auction but was turned down.
“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,” he added.
He emphasized that his decisions were guided by his commitment to ethical standards and accountability, highlighting how such measures had protected him from potential legal trouble.
“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,” Olukoyede said.
and then