President Bola Tinubu has approved the appointment of Mr Ola Olukoyede as the Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Chief Ajuri Ngelale, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, disclosed this in a statement on Thursday in Abuja.
This is for a renewable term of four years in the first instance, pending Senate’s confirmation.
According to reports, this is in accordance with the powers vested in the president as established in section 2 (3) of the EFCC (Establishment) Act, 2004.
The act states: “The Chairman and members of the Commission, other than ex-officio members, shall be appointed by the President.”
Olukoyede is a lawyer with over 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 the Chief of Staff to the Executive Chairman (2016-2018) and Secretary to the Commission (2018-2023).
Ngelale said that Olukoyede’s appointment followed the resignation of the suspended Executive Chairman of the EFCC, Mr Abdulrasheed Bawa.
He said that Tinubu also approved the appointment of Mr Muhammad Hammajoda to serve as the Secretary of the commission for a renewable term of five years in the first instance, pending Senate’s confirmation.
Hammajoda is a public administrator with extensive experience in public finance management, who holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting and a Masters in Business Administration from the University of Maiduguri.
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.
Tinubu tasked the new leadership of the EFCC to justify the confidence given to them in this national assignment.
The president said the appointment would re-invigorate the war on corruption based on a reformed institutional architecture.