Ola Olukayode Emerges As EFCC Head, Muhammad Hammajoda As Secretary

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has appointed a new head for the country's flagship anti financial crimes unit, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.

He is Mr Ola Olukayode, who will replace Bawa Abdullahi, the suspended former head who has since resigned as chairman.

The appointment is contained in a released made available to newsmen by the Special Adviser to the President, Media & Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale on Thursday. 

The new EFCC boss, a trained lawyer with over two decades of experience as a regulatory compliance consultant, specialist in fraud management and corporate intelligence, is also extensively experienced in the operations of the commission, having previously served as Chief of Staff to the Executive Chairman between 2016 and 2018, and Secretary, between 2018 and 2023

His combined experiences form part of the statutory requirements for his appointment as the commission’s head. 

The president also approved the appointment of Mr. Muhammad Hassan Hammajoda, as Secretary to the commission for a renewable five-year term in the first instance, pending Senate confirmation.

Muhammad Hassan Hammajoda is a public administrator whose extensive experience in public finance management spans over several years. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from the University of Maiduguri and a Masters in Business Administration from the same university. 

His career began as a lecturer at the Federal Polytechnic, Mubi, from where he went into banking, including successful stints at the defunct Allied Bank and Standard Trust Bank.

The appointments are in compliance with the President's statutory powers as established in section 2 (3) of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (Establishment) Act, 2004, that “the Chairman and members of the Commission, other than ex-officio members, shall be appointed by the President," President Tinubu has approved the appointment of Mr. Ola Olukoyede to serve as the Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for a renewable term of four years in the first instance, pending Senate confirmation.