By Danlami Nmodu
President Bola Tinubu has appointed
Mr. Ola Olukoyede as the new Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission(EFCC).
This was disclosed in a statement by Ajuri Ngelale, Special Adviser to the President (Media & Publicity) on Thursday.
The presidential spokesman also announced that Olukoyede was appointed EFCC Chairman following the “resignation” of suspended chairman, Abdulrasheed Bawa.
Newsdiaryonline reports that Bawa was suspended a few weeks after Tinubu assumed office as President.Not much has been heard about Bawa from official quarters,despite efforts by civil society groups to canvass for his freedom or at least prosecution, if found wanting.
Meanwhile, Ngelale further disclosed that , the president has also appointed Mr. Muhammad Hassan Hammajoda to serve as Secretary of the Commission.
The statement by the presidency reads: “By the powers vested in President Bola Tinubu as established in section 2 (3) of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (Establishment) Act, 2004, that “the Chairman and members of the Commission, other than ex-officio members, shall be appointed by the President,” President Tinubu has approved the appointment of Mr. Ola Olukoyede to serve as the Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for a renewable term of four years in the first instance, pending Senate confirmation.
“Mr. Ola Olukoyede is a lawyer with over twenty-two (22) years of experience as a regulatory compliance consultant and specialist in fraud management and corporate intelligence.
“He has extensive experience in the operations of the EFCC, having previously served as Chief of Staff to the Executive Chairman (2016-2018) and Secretary to the Commission (2018-2023). As such, he fulfills the statutory requirement for appointment as Chairman of the EFCC.”
Pointedly the statement said, “Mr. Olukoyede’s appointment follows the resignation of the suspended Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr. Abdulrasheed Bawa.
“Furthermore, President Bola Tinubu has approved the appointment of Mr. Muhammad Hassan Hammajoda to serve as the Secretary of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for a renewable term of five years in the first instance, pending Senate confirmation.
“Mr. Muhammad Hassan Hammajoda is a public administrator with extensive experience in public finance management who holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from the University of Maiduguri and a Masters in Business Administration from the same university. He began his career as a lecturer at the Federal Polytechnic, Mubi. From there, he went into banking, including successful stints at the defunct Allied Bank and Standard Trust Bank.”
According to Ngelale, President Bola Tinubu has tasked the new leadership of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to justify the confidence given to them in this important national assignment as a newly invigorated war on corruption undertaken through a reformed institutional architecture in the anti-corruption sector remains a central pillar of the President’s Renewed Hope agenda.
