By Yemi Oyeyemi, Abuja
It was elevations galore at the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) following the naming of Mr. Ola Olukoyede as the Executive Chairman of the anti-graft agency for a renewable term of four years in the first instance, pending Senate confirmation.
From the judiciary also came the confirmation of Aaron Chile Okoronma, the Director of EFCC’s Department of Legal and Prosecution, by the Legal Practitioners Privileges Committee (LPPC) headed by Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, as a new silk, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN).
Mr. Ola Olukoyede is a lawyer with over twenty-two (22) years of experience as a regulatory compliance consultant and specialist in fraud management and corporate intelligence. He has extensive experience in the operations of the EFCC, having previously served as Chief of Staff to the Executive Chairman (2016-2018) and Secretary to the Commission (2018-2023). As such, he fulfills the statutory requirement for appointment as Chairman of the EFCC.
Mr. Olukoyede’s appointment follows the resignation of the suspended Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr. Abdulrasheed Bawa.
Furthermore, according to a presidency statement, President Tinubu approved the appointment of Mr. Muhammad Hassan Hammajoda to serve as the Secretary of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for a renewable term of five years in the first instance, pending Senate confirmation.
Mr. Muhammad Hassan Hammajoda is a public administrator with extensive experience in public finance management who holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from the University of Maiduguri and a Masters in Business Administration from the same university. He began his career as a lecturer at the Federal Polytechnic, Mubi. From there, he went into banking, including successful stints at the defunct Allied Bank and Standard Trust Bank.
President Bola Tinubu tasks the new leadership of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) 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 remains a central pillar of the President’s Renewed Hope agenda.
Meanwhile, human rights activist and constitutional lawyer, Dr. Olukayode Abraham Ajulo and 57 others were on Thursday elevated to the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) by the Legal Practitioners Privileges Committee LPPC).
The committee headed by the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, after several hours of deliberation confirmed the appointment of the new SANs, which comprised of 57 legal practitioners and one from the academic field.
A statement by the Chief Registrar of the Supreme Court / Secretary of the LPPC, Hajo Sarki-Bello, said that the new SANs were appointed as a result of their excellence in the law profession and in the adherence to the Code of Ethics of the profession.
The statement said that the LPPC meeting considered four different petitions against some of the applicants and dismissed them for lacking in merit.
It further stated that the new senior advocates would on Monday November 27, be inaugurated by the CJN at the Supreme Court complex.
Apart from Ajulo, others include, Felix Ota Offia, Lawrence Bankole Falade, Kingsley Obamogie, Folasade Alli, Abiola Isiaq Oyebanji, Bomo Olakunle Agbebi, Daniel Uruakpa, and Oseloka Godwin Osuigwe.
Others are Babatunde Adeoye, Babaseyi Joseph, Emmanuel Moses Enoidem, Kehinde Olufemi Aina, Nghozi Oleh, Aaron Chile Okoroma, Ibrahim Angulu and Olayiwola Afolabi among others.