The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) recovered ₦1.233 trillion in monetary assets between October 2023 and July 2026 under the leadership of its Executive Chairman, Ola Olukoyede.
Olukoyede disclosed this on Monday, August 31, 2026, while presenting an account of his stewardship, saying the Commission also recovered $684.48 million, €9.34 million and £373,905.78 during the period.
According to him, about ₦397.26 billion, representing 33 per cent of the naira recovery, was recovered directly for the Federal Government, while ₦836.34 billion, or 67 per cent, was recovered on behalf of ministries, departments and agencies, state revenue services, companies, individuals and foreign victims.
“Two out of every three naira recovered were on behalf of beneficiaries other than the Federal Government,” he said.
On prosecution, Olukoyede said the commission received 49,673 petitions, investigated 39,615 cases, filed 14,476 cases in court and secured 10,872 convictions between October 2023 and July 2026. The figures, he said, represented a conviction-to-filing ratio of 75.1 per cent, while 1,370 convictions were secured from 1,889 filings in the first half of 2026.
He said data from petitions and case analysis showed changes in the financial crime landscape, with 46,288 offences recorded across nine major categories between 2024 and 2026 year-to-date.
According to the Chairman, advance-fee fraud and cybercrime accounted for nearly two-thirds of the recorded offences, while total offences increased by 24.1 per cent between 2024 and 2025, with increases recorded in procurement fraud, bank fraud, cybercrime and economic-governance offences.
“This tells us that the fight against economic and financial crime is not only about grand corruption. Every day, we are protecting citizens, businesses and institutions from fraud, cyber-enabled crime and other forms of economic exploitation,” Olukoyede said.
He said the Commission’s specialised enforcement activities covering money laundering, unlicensed bureaux de change, illegal mining, virtual assets and terrorist financing resulted in 920 cases and 212 convictions during the period. He added that money laundering and unlicensed bureau de change cases accounted for the largest share of the portfolio.
Olukoyede said ₦661.32 billion and US$492.37 million from recoveries were released to beneficiaries during the period. He said the naira releases included about ₦325.35 billion paid directly to individuals and corporate bodies, while ₦335.97 billion was released to ministries, departments and agencies, the Nigerian Revenue Service, states’ internal revenue services and other public institutions, companies and individuals.
He also disclosed that the Commission secured the forfeiture of 10,053 tangible assets under interim and final court orders between October 2023 and July 2026. The assets included 8,198 electronic items, 1,177 real estate assets, 370 automobiles and 251 plots of land, as well as schools, factories, hotels, shops, oil rigs, barges, machinery and aircraft.
He added that 102 tonnes of solid minerals were also forfeited, while proceeds from the disposal of assets under final forfeiture orders amounted to approximately ₦12.07 billion and were paid to the Federal Government.
On the Commission’s contribution to Nigeria’s financial system, Olukoyede said enforcement in areas including money laundering, terrorist financing, asset freezing and confiscation, virtual assets and other high-risk sectors formed part of the country’s efforts to strengthen its anti-money laundering and counter-financing of terrorism framework.
He noted that Nigeria’s removal from the Financial Action Task Force Grey List in October 2025 was a national achievement to which the Commission’s enforcement activities contributed.
Olukoyede said the period had also seen institutional reforms, including new guidelines on arrest and bail, a review of sting operations, the establishment of the Department of Fraud Risk Assessment and Control, the Security Department, the Immigration and Visa Section and the Cybercrime Rapid Response Centre.
He said almost 60 per cent of the Commission’s processes and operations had been digitalised, adding that the Enugu and Ilorin directorates had been commissioned, while new directorates had been established in Ekiti, Anambra and Katsina states.
