The Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede, has denied reports alleging his involvement in a plot to force the resignation of the Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Bayo Ojulari.
Olukoyede has described the allegations as false, malicious, and damaging to both his integrity and the credibility of the EFCC. He demanded a retraction of the report and a public apology within 48 hours.
According to the EFCC Chairman, the claims suggesting that he, along with the Director General of the Department of State Services (DSS), Adeola Ajayi, coerced the NNPCL boss into signing a resignation letter at a secret meeting in Abuja are entirely baseless.
Olukoyede categorically denied ever participating in or authorising any such meeting, calling the report a “fairy tale” designed to mislead the public and undermine the Commission’s work.
He further condemned insinuations linking the incident to alleged directives from a private individual, describing them as a deliberate attempt to cast him as someone who had compromised the independence of his office.
Olukoyede said the report portrayed him as a person who “betrayed and subverted public trust by submitting the authority of his public office and trust as Chairman of the EFCC to the dictates and directives of one Olatimbo Ayinde”.
POLITICS NIGERIA recalls that over the weekend, there were claims that Olukoyede and Ajayi, pressured Ojulari to sign a resignation letter. It was also alleged that President Bola Tinubu is not entirely happy with the NNPC boss over his dealings with an in-law of former vice president Atiku Abubakar.