By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Nigerian leader, President Bola Tinubu has appointed a new head of the country’s anti-graft agency – the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), a release from the Presidency has announced.
Ola Olukoyede is to serve as the Executive Chairman of the EFCC for a renewable term of four years in the first instance, pending Senate confirmation, the release stated.
Olukoyede’s appointment followed the resignation of the suspended Executive Chairman of the EFCC, Abdulrasheed Bawa, the statement signed by Ajuri Ngelale, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity stated.
He said the president also approved the appointment of Muhammad Hassan Hammajoda to serve as the Secretary of the EFCC for a renewable term of five years in the first instance, pending Senate confirmation.
According to Ngelale, the appointments were based on the powers vested in President Tinubu as established in section 2 (3) of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (Establishment) Act, 2004
“Mr. Ola Olukoyede is a lawyer with over twenty-two (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,” the statement read, adding that the president has also appointed a new secretary for the commission.
“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.”
