Nigeria's EFCC Fires Over 40 Employees Amid Corruption and Financial Misconduct Probe

Nigeria’s anticorruption watchdog has dismissed more than 40 of its own employees for alleged corruption and financial misconduct over the past three years. Ola Olukoyede, the chairman of Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), revealed these dismissals during an event highlighting the agency’s achievements on Monday.

Nigerian media outlets reported that five of the dismissed staff are facing prosecution, and cases are being prepared against the others, citing a media briefing given by Mr Olukoyede. The EFCC is a law enforcement and anticorruption agency that investigates financial crimes, including advance fee fraud, money laundering, and corruption, and has frequently targeted politicians and other officials accused of misappropriating public funds.

“In the past two and a half years or three years of my service, I’ve asked them to dismiss over 40 staff on account of corruption and financial malpractice,” Olukoyede told journalists at the briefing held in the capital, Abuja, as reported by local outlet Vanguard. Emphasizing the agency's internal standards, he added, “You must be sure that your hands are clean. You can’t be fighting corruption when your hands are soiled with corrupt practices.”

During the briefing, the agency head also highlighted major operational milestones, noting that the EFCC had successfully recovered 1.23 trillion naira ($923m) and secured a 75 percent conviction rate. “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,” Olukoyede stated. In the first half of 2026 alone, the agency recorded 1,370 convictions from 1,889 filings.

Concluding his remarks on the agency's performance, Olukoyede said, “These results reflect diligence, resilience and a prosecutorial approach anchored on evidence and courtroom outcomes.”