By Barr Alex Ehi Aidaghese
On June 17, 2025, major Nigerian newspapers, including the Vanguard, reported a disturbing revelation by the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Barrister Ola Olukoyede (SAN). According to the EFCC boss, Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs) in Nigeria are now laundering billions of naira in stolen public funds using internet fraudsters, commonly known as “Yahoo-Yahoo boys.”
“When these politically exposed persons steal money in the billions,” Olukoyede explained, “they give it to these boys, who then open crypto wallets. From there, the money is transferred abroad. Most of these politicians lodge the boys in hotels and use them to open accounts through which the money is moved offshore.”
Even more worrying, he said, is the criminal evolution of these fraudsters: “The most dangerous part is not just about internet scams. Some of these boys are into banditry and kidnapping. When they don’t find people to scam, they resort to these crimes.”
One would expect such a bold and damning exposé to earn the EFCC praise. Any agency that uncovers such high-level espionage and financial criminality should be celebrated. But that has not been the case.
Instead, the public response has been one of scepticism and frustration. In the comment sections of all major news platforms that carried the story, the reactions were the same: Where are the arrests? Who has been prosecuted?
And that, unfortunately, is the recurring tragedy in Nigeria’s anti-corruption narrative. The Chairman of the EFCC demonstrated a fundamental misunderstanding of his mandate. By attempting to conflate Yahoo Yahoo Boys with PEPs as coconspirators, he mistakenly believed this would earn him national commendation. In reality, Nigerians demand decisive prosecution, conviction, and the forfeiture of unlawfully acquired assets.
Nigerians are no longer impressed by exposés without follow-up. The only announcement worth hearing from the EFCC is that those involved — both the politicians and their criminal collaborators — have been arrested, prosecuted, and stripped of their stolen assets. Anything short of that sounds like old news.
In similar circumstances, one could expect agencies like the FBI to act swiftly and decisively. They wouldn’t hold a press conference before knocking on doors in the dead of night and producing suspects before a judge by morning. If I were part of the EFCC Chairman’s advisory team, that’s exactly the strategy I would propose. Not press briefings, but action.
Sadly, we’ve been down this road before. Barely a month ago, a former EFCC Chairman released a memoir that outlined how fraudulent Petroleum Marketers had rigged the country’s fuel subsidy system over the past decade. Yet, he was in a position to stop it during that same period. Instead of naming arrests or convictions, he simply narrated how the fraud took place. That is not reform; it is a documentary of failure. Mr Aig-Imoukhuede's panel, set up by the Jonathan administration on the same issue, revealed to Nigerians the high-stakes criminality and those involved.
This pattern of inaction reveals a broader systemic issue: a culture of low expectations in public service, cultivated by years of nepotism, favouritism, and godfatherism in public appointments. It’s not enough to tell Nigerians how corruption is happening; we need leaders who will stop it.
The current EFCC Chairman must avoid the same pitfall. If his claims are true — and they likely are — then what is he waiting for? This is not the time for sensationalism. Nigerians are tired of headlines that lead nowhere.
Contrast this with the situation in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), where Minister Nyesom Wike, regardless of your opinion of him, has made a visible impact. You can feel his combat boots on the ground, measurable, and undeniable. That is what public service should look like: results, not rhetoric.
In the end, Nigerians want more than investigations and announcements. We want justice - actual convictions, not just confessions. We want to see looted funds recovered and returned. We want to see powerful people held accountable.
The EFCC Chairman has opened the curtain on a deeply troubling reality. Now he must finish the job. If he cannot do so, the press conference was not a revelation; it was an admission of impotence.
Mr. Alex Ehi Aidaghese is a Lawyer and Legal Consultant. He writes on Governance, Accountability, and Public Policy in Nigeria.
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