EFCC Boss Warns Diaspora Professionals Against Aiding Money Laundering

The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede, has issued a stern warning to Nigerian professionals at home and abroad, urging them to stop helping corrupt officials hide stolen funds in foreign countries.

Speaking at the Canada–Nigeria Legal Exchange Forum in Toronto, Olukoyede said lawyers, bankers, real estate agents, and financial advisers are increasingly being used as conduits for illicit financial flows. He stressed that the collaboration of such professionals is a major obstacle in recovering looted assets and sustaining anti-corruption efforts.

According to him, the growing Nigerian diaspora population in countries like Canada has created new channels for laundering proceeds of corruption, especially through real estate and complex financial transactions. He called for increased reporting of suspicious activities, insisting that silence enables the continuation of economic sabotage.

Olukoyede also highlighted the slow pace of foreign asset recovery, referencing long-running cases such as the Abacha loot, and criticised countries that delay returning stolen funds.

He disclosed that the EFCC has strengthened international partnerships with law enforcement agencies in Canada, Spain, Germany, and South Korea to improve intelligence sharing and asset tracing.

Updating the audience on reforms within the EFCC, the chairman announced new policies aimed at closing internal loopholes, including stricter asset declaration rules, specialised financial crime units, and a restructuring of key departments to improve accountability.

The EFCC, he said, has secured 7,503 convictions and recovered more than ₦566 billion and $411 million in the last two years, with seized assets now being channelled into national programmes such as student loans and consumer credit schemes.

Olukoyede maintained that winning the fight against corruption will require both internal reforms and active cooperation from Nigerians abroad:

“The fight is not for EFCC alone. Every Nigerian especially those in the diaspora has a role in protecting the country’s wealth and reputation.”

He reiterated that professionals who help launder stolen funds risk legal consequences, both in Nigeria and internationally.