Lawyer: Olukoyede not suspended for wrongdoing — he’s qualified to be EFCC chairman

Tony Idoko, a lawyer, says Olanipekun Olukoyede, former secretary of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), is qualified to be named the agency’s next chairman.

There have been reports that President Bola Tinubu is set to nominate Olukoyede as substantive chairperson of EFCC.

The reports claimed that the name of Olukoyede would be forwarded to the senate for confirmation soon.

Olukoyede was EFCC secretary between 2018 and 2020 before he was suspended alongside Ibrahim Magu, a former acting chair of the commission, amid a probe by a panel led by Ayo Salami, a retired president of the court of appeal.

Reacting to the purported move by the president to appoint Olukoyede, a group under the aegis of the Alliance for Good Governance and Due Process faulted the rumoured nomination.

The group argued that the move would infringe on a section of the EFCC Act, which defines who could be appointed as the agency’s chairman.

The organisation also inferred that Olukoye’s suspension by the Ayo Salami-led panel of inquiry disqualifies him from leading the anti-corruption agency.

However, Idoko, in a statement issued on Wednesday, said the allegations by the group are attempts to “misinform the public” about the person of the former EFCC secretary.

The lawyer maintained that Olukoyede “was not suspended because of any wrongdoing or crime he committed”.

He added that Olukoyede was “suspended as administrative protocol demanded because the Panel claimed that it wanted unhindered access to documents in the offices of the affected officers”.

Idoko added that the former EFCC secretary has “20 years of leadership expertise” ranging from “attorney and consultant, investigation and civil litigation of fraud and financial crimes”.

He said Olukoyede’s credentials surpass the “15 years cognate experience” necessary to qualify for the commission’s top job.

“I was really aghast to read that falsehood, especially at the length some people can go to design falsehood at inhibiting the progress of innocent people,” the statement reads.

“Let it also be put on record that Mr Olukoyede was not suspended because of any wrongdoing or crime he committed.

“Note also that he was not suspended on the recommendation of Justice Isa Ayo Salami’s Panel of Inquiry.

“It is also very instructive to state that the Presidency lifted the suspension after he was cleared of any wrongdoing by the Panel. He was also further issued with a clearance letter to that effect.”