EFCC Boss Shocks Nation: 18 Governors Under Active Investigation!

Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede, has revealed that the agency is currently probing the financial conduct of 18 sitting state governors across Nigeria. According to iReporter Online, Olukoyede made the announcement on Friday at a sensitisation event held in Lagos to enlighten industry players—such as filmmakers and Bureau de Change operators—on the consequences of naira abuse and currency defacement.

Despite the constitutional immunity protecting sitting governors from prosecution, Olukoyede made it clear that such protection does not hinder the EFCC from initiating investigations while they remain in office. According to iReporter Online, the anti-graft agency is actively gathering evidence to hold these officials accountable once their tenures end.

He narrated a peculiar case involving a former Nigerian governor who had been under EFCC investigation while in office. As soon as his tenure ended, the ex-governor fled to the United Kingdom, reportedly to avoid arrest. Coincidentally, his birthday celebration was held shortly after his arrival in the UK, during which he began flamboyantly spraying £50 and £10 notes in a London hotel.

Olukoyede said the hotel manager, stunned by the act, assumed the former governor was mentally unstable and immediately contacted emergency services. According to iReporter Online, the UK Metropolitan Police responded swiftly and detained the former governor. Attempts were made to take him away in an ambulance, but his friends—including two sitting Nigerian governors—intervened to explain that he was not mentally ill, just engaging in extravagant behavior.

The EFCC chairman insisted that financial crimes committed by public officials will not go unpunished, whether in or out of office. He reiterated the commission’s commitment to holding leaders accountable in line with the law.