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The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has commenced efforts to monitor Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) releases to state
EFCC recovers ₦1.23trn, secures 10,872 convictions in 34 months
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has commenced efforts to monitor Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) releases to state and local governments as part of a new strategy to prevent the diversion of public funds.
Ola Olukoyede, chairman of the EFCC, disclosed this on Thursday while speaking at the commissioning of the commission’s new Zonal Directorate in Awka, Anambra State.
Olukoyede said the commission’s approach to fighting financial crimes was shifting from predominantly investigating and recovering stolen funds to preventing the diversion of public resources in the first place.
He said President Bola Tinubu had approved the EFCC’s monitoring of FAAC releases to states and local governments.
“Mr President has gracefully approved for us to also monitor FAAC releases to states and to local government,” Olukoyede said.
He said the development was one of the reasons the commission was expanding its operational presence across the country.
“So we are now in the business of preventing while we are still enforcing the one that fits us out. We no longer wait for money to be stolen before EFCC acts,” he said.
According to the EFCC chairman, the commission established a Department of Fraud Risk Assessment and Control after determining that preventing financial crimes before they occurred was more effective than waiting for funds to be stolen and subsequently pursuing recovery.
He said the department had begun going into ministries, departments and agencies to examine financial releases and “follow the money” to determine how public resources were being utilised.
Olukoyede said the same preventive approach was now being extended to funds released to states and local governments through FAAC.
He explained that the commission’s intervention was designed to identify vulnerabilities in the management of public funds and strengthen controls before resources could be diverted.
The EFCC chairman said the commission’s experience showed that recovering stolen funds was both costly and incomplete.
He said that once money was stolen, the best that could be recovered might be about 60 percent of the amount lost, while the recovery process could consume between 20 percent and 25 percent of the amount eventually recovered.
“Which one is the most effective or more effective way of fighting financial crimes? Prevention,” he said.
Olukoyede said the strategy was part of broader institutional reforms aimed at making the EFCC more proactive in tackling economic and financial crimes.
He said the commission was no longer relying solely on petitions, investigations and prosecutions, but was increasingly seeking to identify weaknesses in government systems that could facilitate fraud.
The EFCC chairman said the commission had received 49,673 petitions between October 2023 and July 2026, investigated 39,615 cases and filed 14,476 cases in court during the period.
It also secured 10,872 convictions within the period, he said.
In the first half of 2026 alone, Olukoyede said the commission secured 1,370 convictions from 1,889 filings.
He added that the EFCC recorded recoveries of N1.2 trillion, $684 million, £373,000 and €9.3 million, alongside recoveries in other currencies.
Olukoyede said the expansion of the commission’s presence to Anambra and Imo states was also intended to strengthen its ability to monitor economic activities and work with government institutions to identify areas vulnerable to fraud.
He urged state governments to collaborate with the EFCC in areas including internally generated revenue and land registries, which he identified as potentially vulnerable areas.
“We look at vulnerable areas, your IGR, land registry particularly, and areas that are vulnerable to fraud,” he said.
He said the commission would work with governments to develop fraud-risk assessments and controls capable of improving revenue collection while reducing opportunities for financial crimes.
Olukoyede stressed that the EFCC’s expanded preventive role did not mean it was abandoning its enforcement responsibilities.
Rather, he said, the commission would continue to investigate and prosecute financial crimes while working to prevent them through stronger systems, regulations and controls.
He also called for greater involvement of citizens, civil society organisations, traditional rulers, professional bodies and communities in monitoring public projects and government spending.
According to him, citizens often notice signs of financial crimes, including abandoned public projects and unexplained diversion of public resources, before law enforcement agencies become aware of them.
He urged Nigerians to report credible information on economic and financial crimes through the channels provided by the commission.
The new Awka directorate, he said, would cover Anambra and Imo states and form part of the EFCC’s expansion aimed at bringing its operations closer to economic centres across the country.
