Nigeria’s anti-corruption chief has issued a stark warning that the country cannot win the fight against graft without a legal framework to tackle unexplained wealth, as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) begins uncovering “mind-boggling” financial misconduct in the nation’s lucrative oil and gas sector.
Speaking in Abuja at a national conference on public accounts and fiscal governance on Wednesday, EFCC Chairman Ola Olukoyede called on the National Assembly to urgently pass a law that would make it a criminal offence to possess assets grossly disproportionate to one’s legitimate earnings.
“I’ve been begging for this for the past year,” Olukoyede told lawmakers. “If we don’t make individuals accountable for what they have, we’ll never get it right.”
Olukoyede lamented that despite years of anti-corruption efforts, Nigeria still lacks a legal instrument to prosecute individuals whose wealth cannot be justified. “Someone works in a ministry for 20 years, and owns five properties in Maitama and Asokoro. We calculate their earnings and find no match. Yet we’re told to prove a predicate offence before we can act. That is absurd,” he said.
The EFCC boss also revealed that the agency had only just begun scrutinising the accounts of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and what has so far emerged is “difficult to believe”.
“In the last three weeks, we started a commission-wide investigation into the extractive industry, particularly oil and gas. What we’ve discovered is mind-boggling. And this is only scratching the surface,” he said.
Olukoyede said the findings highlight how systemic financial mismanagement has fuelled Nigeria’s wider economic decline and worsening security crisis. “There is a very strong connection between the mismanagement of our resources and insecurity. Trace back terrorism, banditry, and kidnapping, and you’ll find a pattern of corrupt practices and fund diversion,” he said.
He decried the legal obstacles that hinder the EFCC from swiftly prosecuting corrupt officials, particularly the requirement to prove a predicate offence before assets can be seized. The proposed “Unexplained Wealth Bill,” he argued, would introduce strict liability for individuals living far beyond their known sources of income.
“Until we do this, there will always be an escape route for the corrupt,” he added.
Olukoyede painted a grim picture of Nigeria’s reputation abroad, revealing that looted assets were being traced across jurisdictions ranging from the United States and Turkey to places as remote as Iceland. “Last month alone, I visited four or five countries chasing Nigeria’s stolen assets. An ambassador told me they discovered an estate in Iceland owned by a Nigerian. Iceland of all places!”
But even these efforts, he acknowledged, are unlikely to recover more than a fraction of what has been stolen. “There’s no level of effort that will enable me to recover even half of Nigeria’s looted funds. The custodians in foreign countries simply don’t want to let go,” he said.
He also accused international actors of complicity, recalling a confrontation he had at a United Nations forum last December. “I told them, if you’re holding onto Nigeria’s stolen assets, we see you as accessories after the fact. They grumbled, but I didn’t care,” he said.
The EFCC boss criticised Nigeria’s entrenched culture of impunity, where public officials under prosecution are often still celebrated. “We show you the evidence. We trace the money. We go to court. Yet they’re being celebrated all over. Does that show we’re serious?”
He argued that with better fiscal discipline, Nigeria could fund its development without foreign borrowing. “If we execute even 60% of our capital budget efficiently in 2025 and 2026, we’ll empower SMEs, build infrastructure, and we’ll be fine.”
“What we need,” he concluded, “is transparency in revenue generation and accountability in public expenditure.”
With an urgent appeal to lawmakers, political leaders, and citizens, Olukoyede warned that the country stands at a crossroads. “If we miss it under this administration, I pity Nigeria. Let’s put politics aside. Let’s put ethnicity aside. This is about rescuing the soul of Nigeria.”
