If the alarming drift under EFCC Chairman Olukayode Olukoyede isn’t halted, the commission’s sacred vow to battle corruption will crumble into irrelevance.
Sources within the anti-graft agency paint a damning picture of favoritism echoing the disastrous tenures of predecessors Ibrahim Magu and AbdulRasheed Bawa, where junior officers leapfrogged seniors, breeding indiscipline and sapping morale from dedicated operatives.
At his Senate screening, Olukoyede, a trained lawyer, promised to right these wrongs, vowing to end the “imbalance” that crippled the EFCC.
Yet, insiders say he is veering down the same toxic path. Zonal offices tell the starkest tale, Junior operatives now lord over senior lawyers heading legal departments, sidelining zonal directors (formerly commanders) who have overstayed tenures.
Some are glued to posts for over a decade across four zones, flouting commission norms.
The rot hits hardest in Kano, Akwa Ibom, Kwara, and one other state, where these juniors reign as zonal directors above their legal heads, who outrank them by enlistment and seniority.
The Kwara saga exemplifies the chaos; An outgoing director handed over to the most senior staff, the head of legal; only for a junior to muscle in on direct orders from Abuja.
The snubbed lawyer sought a posting but was stonewalled, forced to serve under his subordinate.Even at headquarters, the chairman’s bias stings. Most EFCC lawyers are institute-trained cadets, yet a rigid “operatives-only” investigator policy renders them redundant, with juniors calling shots daily.
Olukoyede, who flaunted his legal credentials to clinch the job, now denies his peers zonal leadership and key departments.
The latest outrage is A Level 14 officer, his Special Adviser, rushed to deputy director for a shot at Coordinating Director of Legal as the incumbent retires.
Senior, qualified lawyer-cadets languish overlooked, stooges preferred.
This is not just administrative malpractice; it’s corruption in EFCC garb,” one insider fumed anonymously.
An anti-graft body can’t thrive on career sabotage, it kills zeal, craters performance.”
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Attorney General Lateef Fagbemi, who oversee the EFCC, must intervene. The agency was birthed under police stewardship for a reason, No assistant commissioner polices a deputy. Yet here, a Cadet Course 3 SA, whose mates are mere assistant directors, eyes the legal directorate. Career progression hangs by a thread; internal breaches mock the EFCC’s mission.Until seniority rules and favoritism ends, the commission’s war on graft remains a hollow echo.
Anabel Crown heads investigations for the Global Information Team
