2027: Olukoyde reveals how EFCC will tackle vote buying

By Ayorinde Oluokun/Abuja

The Chairman of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Ola Olukoyede has said the Commission will not wait until election day in 2027 before it begins to take actions to tackle vote buying.

Olukoye said this on Wednesday, March 18, 2026, when the President of Alumni Association of the National Institute for Security Studies, AANISS, Mike Ejiofor, led other executives of his Association on a courtesy visit to his office at the Commission’s Corporate Headquarters in Jabi, Abuja.

Speaking during the visit, the EFCC Chairman who is also an Alumni of AANISS, acknowledged that battling vote buying falls within the Commission’s mandate.

He added that the Commission had been playing a critical role to combat vote buying with impressive number of convictions to show for it.

With regards to the 2027 general election, he assured that the Commission was not going to wait until election day to go into action.

According to him, contingent planning and intelligence gathering are crucial to tackle fraudulent actors in any electoral process.

The EFCC boss also urged AANISS’ members to brace up to be champions of national security.

He pointed out that a strong nexus existed between national security, financial crimes and corruption, which he said made collaboration between the EFCC and AANISS compelling.

“There’s this strong link between national security and financial crimes and that is where we need our collaboration. We need to collaborate and synergize. We need you to support the agencies to ensure that we fulfil our mandate,” he said.

He restated his focus on using the anti-corruption war to support security agencies, guarantee stability in the economy as well as reduce the propensity of fraudulent actors towards corruption and financial crimes. In doing this, prevention, he said, continued to be fundamental.

“One of the critical things we did was to ensure that we don’t always wait for money to be stolen before we start rolling up our sleeves. So, I set up a Directorate called Fraud Risk Assessment and Control. Now, they are working with MDAs, tracking releases on a monthly basis. We are looking at where the money is going because it costs more to recover than to prevent,” he said.

He also noted the prime place of asset recovery, describing it as key in the Commission’s anti-corruption fight.

“As a matter of fact, from day one, we made asset recovery key, because depriving those who perpetrate crime the proceeds of their crimes is a sure way to discourage them. If you allow them to have access to those assets, they will get the best of lawyers and continue to fight you with matters going on for 10 to 15 years in court.”

He urged AANISS to utilise the opportunity of its lectures to admonish Nigerians and give talks on the issue of financial crimes.

“If we don’t take the issue of the fight against corruption, economic and financial crimes as a national policy, there is no way we can find security. They are like twins. They are tied together. So, we need your cooperation. Even more, we need your support,” he said.

Speaking earlier, Ejiofor unfolded the topic of the 2026 AANISS Annual Lecture, “Credible Elections in Nigeria and National Security,” stressing that the focus of the Lecture drew the Association to the EFCC in recognition of the Commission’s efforts against vote buying, noting that credible elections are fundamental to good governance and national security.

“I must commend the EFCC, because I see the arrests you made over vote buying, which is the greatest challenge we are facing right now in the electoral process. I must commend you,” he said.

He urged the Commission to intensify its efforts and improve its modalities against vote buying as the 2027 election year draws closer. “As the general election is coming up in 2027, you should intensify and work out more modalities to ensure that vote buying is curtailed. We’re also available to cooperate with you. We will collaborate with the EFCC in terms of consultancy and advice. If you need resource persons, we are available to assist,” he said.