THE Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Olanipekun Olukoyede, revealed that he declined monetary gifts totaling approximately N500 million from various individuals during his mother’s funeral in 2019.
Speaking at the 38th Anti-Corruption Situation Room in Abuja yesterday, Olukoyede emphasized the importance of integrity and ethical conduct in public service.
The event, themed Ethics, Integrity, Corruption Risk Assessments, and Anti-Corruption at National and Sub-National Levels: Sustaining the Fight Against Corruption in Nigeria, was organized by the Human and Environmental Development Agenda Resource Centre, alongside the Kano State Public Complaint and Anti-Corruption Commission, ICPC, and EFCC, with support from the MacArthur Foundation.
Olukoyede, who was serving as the EFCC Secretary at the time, disclosed that high-ranking officials—including ministers, permanent secretaries, and directors—sent him cheques and bank drafts as condolence gifts.
However, after returning to his family home in Ekiti State for the burial, he discovered a box filled with these financial contributions, amounting to nearly N500 million.
Recalling the moment, he said, “When I arrived at my compound, I saw about 17 cows, including pregnant ones. My gatekeeper then handed me a box containing numerous cheques and drafts from top government officials.”
When he showed the cheques to his wife, she initially reacted with gratitude, but he questioned the implications of accepting them. Upon calculating the total amount, he decided to return all the funds, considering the ethical risks involved.
Reflecting on his decision, Olukoyede explained how accepting those funds could have jeopardized his integrity, particularly since some of the contributors were being investigated by the EFCC.
He noted that by 2020, he was under investigation himself, and if those cheques had been deposited into his account, they could have been used to undermine his credibility.
“Even though these gifts wouldn’t have influenced my decisions, imagine if investigators found those cheques in my account. Would my defense that they were simply burial gifts be accepted? That is what integrity means—acting beyond expectations,” he stated.
Olukoyede also shared another instance where he upheld ethical standards by rejecting bids from his own relatives during an EFCC auction.
During his tenure as EFCC Secretary, he oversaw the sale of forfeited assets and was part of the committee responsible for selecting auctioneers.
His brother-in-law, an international auctioneer, applied but was disqualified after Olukoyede personally shredded his application. This action strained their relationship, leading to six months of silence between them.
Similarly, his elder brother expressed interest in purchasing a truck through the auction. However, Olukoyede insisted on maintaining ethical guidelines, rejecting the request due to conflict-of-interest rules.
“My brother-in-law applied, and when I saw his application, I shredded it. My PA informed him, and he didn’t speak to me for six months. My elder brother also wanted to bid under a different name, but I told him I was not interested in such practices,” he recounted.
Eight months later, when a panel was set up to investigate EFCC activities, the auction he supervised came under scrutiny.
Had his relatives been found among the beneficiaries, he acknowledged that it could have led to severe consequences.
“If my brother-in-law’s name had appeared in the auction records, I might be in jail today,” he concluded, stressing the significance of integrity in public office.