Economic and Financial Crimes Commission Chairman Ola Olukoyede has said comments by the agency’s Lagos zonal directorate about lawyers charging professional fees in foreign currency were taken out of context and should not be treated as EFCC policy.
Olukoyede made the clarification on Wednesday, 16 September 2026, when Nigerian Bar Association President Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya, SAN, led a delegation on a courtesy visit to the commission’s headquarters in Abuja.
Badejo-Okusanya had asked for greater clarity on the controversy. Charging professional fees in foreign currency does not, by itself, amount to a criminal offence, she said, and no one should be prosecuted for an offence unknown to law.
The EFCC chairman replied that he remains the commission’s official spokesman on policy. Remarks attributed to the Lagos Zonal Directorate should not be read as a general position of the agency unless clarified by the proper authority, he said. Context and accurate interpretation of officials’ statements matter, particularly when they affect the legal profession.
He said the commission investigates petitions only when they fall within its statutory mandate and the applicable financial-crimes laws, and that it will continue to work transparently and within the law.
Badejo-Okusanya commended the EFCC’s work on investigations, prosecutions and recovery of proceeds of crime, and its contribution to Nigeria’s removal from the Financial Action Task Force grey list. That development, she said, had strengthened investor confidence and made cross-border transactions cheaper and faster.
She urged the commission to keep a measured approach to investigations and arrests, sustain the reduction in sensational arrests and media trials, and complete thorough investigations before prosecution, in line with due process.
Olukoyede acknowledged concerns about media trials and overzealous conduct by some personnel and stressed the need for professionalism. He thanked the NBA for its support and pledged continued collaboration on compliance, crime prevention and ethical standards in the legal profession.
The visit ended with a tour of EFCC Radio 97.3, an initiative of the current administration aimed at public education on economic and financial crimes. Badejo-Okusanya commended the station and gave an impromptu live interview, saying she would return later to read the news.
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