The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has announced a significant milestone in its asset recovery efforts: a property seized from a former civil servant in Kaduna State has been transformed into a federal university.
Speaking during a stakeholders’ sensitisation event in Lagos on Friday, EFCC Executive Chairman, Ola Olukoyede, said the facility is now home to the Federal University of Applied Sciences, Kachia, in Kaduna State.
According to him, the conversion of seized assets into institutions of public benefit marks a new chapter in how the EFCC manages recovered properties.
“This is what accountability looks like — assets recovered from corruption being repurposed to serve the people,” Olukoyede stated.
The EFCC chairman further disclosed that other recovered funds have also been redirected into public welfare initiatives.
These include the establishment of a skill acquisition centre and liaison office in Bayelsa State using funds originally misappropriated from the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
Olukoyede revealed that over ₦100 billion recovered by the EFCC has been reinvested into critical social programmes under the Tinubu administration.
These include the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFund) and the CrediCorp consumer credit scheme.
“These are not just headlines, they are real interventions funded by money recovered from corrupt individuals and organisations,” he added.
Addressing the issue of currency abuse, Olukoyede condemned practices such as spraying, stamping, or mutilating the naira, warning that such acts are illegal and contrary to Nigerian cultural values.
“Nobody who works hard to earn money will go out and start throwing their hard-earned salary in the air,” he said.
He announced that the EFCC, in partnership with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), has launched a Task Force on Dollarization and Naira Abuse, aimed at clamping down on currency-related violations.
Olukoyede emphasized that the Commission’s renewed enforcement strategy is now paired with institutional reform and public education.
This includes the creation of a Fraud Risk Assessment and Control Department, as well as a dedicated radio station and weekly media programmes focused on enlightening citizens about financial crimes and the law.
