Group requests the newly appointed EFCC chair be removed.

On Tuesday, members of the Center for Democracy and Human Rights swarmed the National Assembly building in Abuja, requesting that the Senate remove Ola Olukoyede, the recently appointed chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, on the grounds that he is unqualified.

Adebayo Ogorry, the group’s national secretary, requested that Olukoyede be fired from his position by Senate President Godswill Akpabio and pointed out that President Bola Tinubu had purportedly broken the rules when selecting the new EFCC chairman.

Olukoyede was appointed by President Tinubu last Thursday and given the authority to lead the EFCC initially for a four-year renewable tenure, subject to Senate confirmation.

“We write to draw the attention of the Senate to the gross violation of the extant laws, which is the Establishment Act 2004 of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, by the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, President Bola Tinubu in appointing Mr. Ola Olukoyede as Chairman of the Commission on Thursday, October 12, 2023,” Ogorry said during the protest at the National Assembly in Abuja on Tuesday”.

The commission will be made up of the following members, according to the EFCC Establishment Act, 2004, which the group also cited: (1) A chairman who will serve as the commission’s chief executive and accounting officer; (2) a serving or retired member of any government security or law enforcement agency with a rank of Assistant Commissioner of Police or higher; and (3) a member with at least 15 years of cognate experience.

This clause only states that not every member of the EFCC, other Forces, or the police force is eligible to serve as the organization’s executive chairman. Individuals with 15 years of police or paramilitary experience, such as pilots, medical professionals, administrative officers, etc., typically lack the necessary experience to enforce the laws of the EFCC.

“All officers involved in the enforcement of the Act shall have the same powers, authorities, privileges (including the power to bear arms) as are given by law to members of the Nigerian Police,” according to Section 8(5) of the EFCC Act, Ogorry continued.