The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has strongly denied allegations that its officials shared funds forfeited by former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Godwin Emefiele, and his associates. The EFCC’s spokesperson, Dele Oyewale, issued a statement on Wednesday dismissing the reports as false and baseless.
The denial follows an online publication by Sahara Reporters, which claimed that N54 billion in forfeited assets were allegedly distributed among certain ministers and aides of President Bola Tinubu, in collaboration with EFCC officials. The EFCC described the report as a deliberate attempt to tarnish the agency’s reputation and insisted that no such sharing of assets took place.
“The notion of ‘sharing of proceeds of forfeited assets’ is strange to the Commission,” Oyewale stated. “Both the EFCC Act, 2004 and the Proceeds of Crime (Recovery and Management) Act, 2022, clearly outline the legal processes for managing forfeited assets, and there is no provision for such funds to be shared among officials.”
The EFCC’s statement emphasized that the funds recovered from forfeited assets are deposited into designated accounts, as stipulated by law. Oyewale further criticized the report for its lack of evidence and specifics, noting that it failed to provide details on how the alleged sharing occurred or who benefitted.
The agency urged the public to disregard the report, labeling it as “fiction disguised as news,” and reaffirmed its commitment to transparency and integrity in asset recovery.
