- EFCC Chairman, Olanipekun Olukoyede, disclosed that he rejected N500 million in gifts and donations during his mothers burial in 2019, citing integrity concerns.
- The gifts, which included cheques, bank drafts, and livestock from ministers, directors, and agency heads, were returned to the senders.
- Olukoyede recounted the experience at the 38th Anti-Corruption Situation Room (ACSR) Conference in Abuja, stressing the importance of ethics in public service.
Olukoyede: Why I rejected millions during my mothers burialEFCC chairman Olukoyede rejects N500 million.
Photo credit: EFCCSource: FacebookI lost my mother in the year 2019 (in Ekiti State). We went for the funeral. I was secretary of the EFCC then. People came. A day before the funeral, I decided not to go on time. So I went to my place a day before the funeral service. By the time I got to my small compound, which I built several years ago before I joined the EFCC, I saw about 17 cows in my compound, including pregnant ones.When I got home, my gate man presented a box to me. A carton. And inside this, I saw so many checks. And drafts. From ministers, permanent secretaries, from directors, DGs of agencies.And so, I went in and showed it to my wife. She said, praise God. I said, praise God for what? By the time we put all the checks together, it counted close to N500m, Olukoyede said in his address at the event.EFCC boss urges officials to maintain professionalismI did the burial in September 2019. By July 2020, I was under investigation. Now, assuming all those cheques were paid into my account as traditional gifts, as people said. And some of the MDAs that we were investigating in the EFCC, some of their directors and their DGs and their ministers, sent checks to me.Ordinarily, I mean for burial, some 1 million, some 20 million and all of that. Even though that wouldnt have influenced my decision if I was in a position to actually determine what would happen to their investigations, but wouldnt it have been expedient for me> How would I have explained, before a panel. And they saw cheques paid into my account. The first thing they did when they saw the cheque was to check all my accounts.So, assuming they found those cheques paid into my account, wouldnt it have been a good defence for me to say it was my mothers burial? When they were actually looking for me to roast me. Looking for every opportunity. For me, thats what you call integrity. When you go beyond a level of expectation. the EFCC boss said.
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