EFCC chairman: I didn’t start Malami’s probe

Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede, has said the corruption investigation involving former Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, was not initiated by him.

Olukoyede stated this during an interview on Channels Television while responding to allegations that the probe was politically motivated.

He said the investigation into Malami began over two years before he assumed office and had been handled professionally without any personal or political bias.

According to him, the EFCC arraigned Malami at the Federal High Court in Abuja in December 2025 over alleged money laundering offences.

Malami was charged alongside his son, Abubakar Abdulaziz Malami, and his wife, Bashir Asabe, on a 16 count charge.

All three pleaded not guilty.

The former justice minister had earlier alleged that his detention and investigation were politically motivated following his defection to the African Democratic Congress.

He also asked Olukoyede to step aside from the investigation, citing an alleged indictment of the EFCC chairman by the Ayo Salami judicial commission of inquiry.

Responding, Olukoyede dismissed the claims, saying the probe had no political undertone.

He said the file was opened under a previous EFCC leadership and that his role was to ensure the investigation was thorough and professional.

Olukoyede stressed that the anti corruption fight must be carried out without partisanship if the country is to move forward, stressing that there was nothing personal about the case.

“We carried out our investigation in the most professional way. Let me tell you about that particular former attorney-general that you are talking about. There is nothing personal in this matter.

“If Nigeria is to move forward, all of us must agree that this fight must be fought without being partisan, and that’s what I want Nigerians to understand and to agree with us.

“I want to tell Nigerians that the investigation of this man predated me in the office. I inherited the investigation file.

“What I did is to ensure that the investigation was carried out in the most professional and thorough manner. He has been under investigation for two and a half years.

“The file was opened in the previous EFCC administration. For the past two years I have been in office, I have been painstakingly carrying out investigation to establish some of the offences.

“There is nothing personal about it. I don’t understand the issue of persecution. Those who claimed I was indicted by the Justice Ayo Salami panel, the onus is on them to publish the report for people to see.”

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