The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission can now freeze suspicious funds within 72 hours of detecting unusual movements, chairman Ola Olukoyede said on Monday at a media session in Abuja marking his third year in office.
The commission is targeting cryptocurrency wallets as part of the shift, responding to what Olukoyede described as a growing movement of illicit money into digital assets.
Fraud Risk Assessment and Control
Olukoyede said the EFCC has set up the Fraud Risk Assessment and Control Department (FRAC) to monitor financial movements and intervene when transactions raise suspicion. The commission is moving away from waiting for crimes to be committed before acting.
"Why must we be waiting for money to be stolen? When we see money moving suspiciously, we move in and freeze. Pending 72 hours, we ask: where is this money going?" Olukoyede said.
He cited a case where funds were allegedly moved from a local government account to a private company and then transferred into cryptocurrency wallets. The fraud risk department detected the transactions and froze the funds for 72 hours to establish their destination and purpose. Olukoyede did not identify the local government, company or state involved.
Crypto wallets and licensed platforms
Olukoyede said the movement of suspected illicit funds into cryptocurrency has become a growing problem for investigators because digital assets can be transferred rapidly and may be harder to trace to conventional assets.
He alleged that some public officials now move funds into cryptocurrency wallets within 24 hours, sometimes using younger people to facilitate the transactions.
"At the press of a button, you can collapse the entire banking industry in Nigeria. Most of the data we are investigating now, you can't trace tangible assets to them," he said.
About 40 virtual asset platforms are now licensed in Nigeria, Olukoyede said, giving investigators greater ability to follow transactions involving registered platforms. The commission has also developed capacity to trace cryptocurrency wallets connected to those platforms.
National confiscation wallet
The EFCC has established a national confiscation wallet to hold cryptocurrencies seized by the government. Olukoyede said this solves a problem the commission previously faced.
"One of the problems we used to have was: where do you put confiscated virtual assets? Today we have a national wallet that we put them into," he said.
The commission is working with other government agencies on the management of confiscated virtual assets.
Civil asset forfeiture
The EFCC is relying more heavily on civil asset forfeiture to recover suspected proceeds of crime. Olukoyede said the commission is using Section 17 of the Advance Fee Fraud Act to pursue assets directly rather than waiting for criminal trials to conclude.
"This is faster and quicker than criminal trial. We don't have to wait 10, 15 years when witnesses die and assets are dissipated," he said.
Under the civil process, the commission can take action against an asset while the person claiming ownership is required to explain its source.
Recoveries and asset management
The commission has also established a Process and Proceeds Management Directorate to oversee forfeited assets. Professionals are appointed to manage different categories of assets, while proceeds from disposed assets are handled through government processes.
In a separate account of his tenure presented at the briefing, Olukoyede said the commission recovered more than ₦1.23 trillion and $684.48 million between October 2023 and June 2026, alongside recoveries in pounds and euros.
Olukoyede said law enforcement alone cannot eliminate financial crime and called for stronger policies and institutional reforms to close loopholes that allow public and private funds to be diverted.
"The most effective system is not law enforcement. It is the policy regime, institutional reforms that close leakages," he said.
According to Pulse.ng.
