On Tuesday, demonstrators stormed the National Assembly to protest Ola Olukoyede’s nomination as the new head of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
According to Gistlover, President Bola Tinubu requested in a letter to the Senate on Tuesday that Olukoyede and Muhammad Hammajoda be confirmed as the official Chairman and Secretary of the anti-graft agency.
Deputy Senate President Jibrin Barau read the President’s letter during Tuesday’s plenary.
Recall that Olukoyede and Hammajoda were named as the Chairman and Secretary, respectively, of the EFCC by President Tinubu.
Nearly four months had passed since Tinubu had suspended Abdulrasheed Bawa, the previous EFCC chairman.
Mr. Olukoyede’s appointment came after Mr. Abdulrasheed Bawa, the EFCC’s suspended Executive Chairman, resigned, according to a statement issued by Ajuri Ngelale, the President’s Special Advisor on Media and Publicity.
Olukoyede’s appointment has since caused controversy, though, as detractors claim he has absolutely no experience in the field.
In the meantime, on Tuesday, members of the Center for Democracy and Human Rights stormed the National Assembly to protest the selection of Olukoyede as the new EFCC chairman.
Adebayo Ogorry, the organization’s national secretary, claimed during the protest that the selection of Olukoyede was against the rules currently in place governing the EFCC chairman’s appointment.
“The action of President Tinubu in appointing Mr. Olukoyede to such a high office with enormous responsibility as the Chairman of the EFCC in flagrant violation of the provisions of the laws of the parliament is contrary to the oath he took on May 29, 2023, to protect and defend the laws of the nation,” he said. “.
