Nigerian President Bola Tinubu on Thursday appointed a new anti-graft police chief in a bid to strengthen the fight against corruption and promote transparency in the most populous African nation.
The appointment of Ola Olukoyede as the new head of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Nigeria’s main anti-graft police, will take immediate effect, according to a statement by the presidency.
Olukoyede’s appointment followed the resignation of the suspended former head of the EFCC, Abdulrasheed Bawa, who has been in secret police detention since June.
Tinubu, who took office in late May, had committed to revitalizing Nigeria’s efforts to combat graft and promote transparency and accountability within the government and public sector.
The Nigerian president, who also appointed Muhammad Hammajoda as the scribe of the EFCC, on Thursday described the agency police as “a central pillar” in his government. He further tasked the anti-graft police under the new leadership to “justify the confidence given to them in this important national assignment, as a newly invigorated war on corruption undertaken through a reformed institutional architecture in the anti-corruption sector.”
Nigeria has long grappled with endemic corruption, affecting every aspect of society from government institutions to the private sector.
