David-Chyddy Eleke writes that the recent inauguration of the Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission in Awka, the Anambra State capital, was misconstrued for witch-hunt, but such fears were allayed as the Commission came prepared with answers.
Last Friday, Awka, the capital of Anambra State played host to dignitaries who graced the inauguration of the Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), which is to oversee Anambra and Imo States. The directorate was created by an act of parliament on 22 October 2025, with just 21 personnel deployed to the office through an internal memo on 2 January. The office formally opened, but didn’t begin full operation until February 28, 2026.
The inauguration was graced by dignitaries including the host governor, Prof Chukwuma Soludo; his Imo State counterpart, Senator Hope Uzodinma; Speaker of House of Representatives, Hon Tajudeen Abbas, several members of House of Representatives, State Assembly members, Executive Chairman of EFCC, Mr Ola Olukoyede; businessman, Chief Innocent Chukwuma of Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing (IVM); Lady Ada Chidozie of Dozzy Oil and Chairman of Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) and many others.
The creation of the directorate had set tongues wagging in the South East, especially in Anambra where some indigenes wondered what economic benefits the zonal directorate would bring to the state. Previously, the creation of Zone 13 Ukpo command of the Nigeria Police Force which was attracted by billionaire oil mogul, Prince Arthur Eze had been condemned by many who insisted that he neither had an industry, factory or any business to absorb the teeming youths, but deemed it necessary to influence a police facility that could turn out an instrument for hunting and hounding youths. The argument continued for a while, then the opening of the EFCC Directorate.
A commentator, Mr Mathias Uzoagba (not real name because his permission was not sought) in a post on social media heavily criticized both Anambra State Governor, Prof Chukwuma Soludo and the Federal Government about the establishment of the directorate. He said: “When it was time to sign a $7 billion memorandum of understanding (MoU) with global port operator DP World in to develop the Gateway Deep Seaport and the Ogun Blue Marine Special Economic Zone, the federal government did not remember South East, but now it is time to establish EFCC Directorate, they are bringing it to Anambra. Soludo should be ashamed of his mantra of progressives working together. Can’t progressives work together when it is time to attract meaningful development to Anambra State,” he asked rhetorically.
As the argument raged, the actual inauguration ceremony presented an opportunity for both the Chairman of EFCC and Prof Soludo to clarify this. Governor of Imo State, Senator Uzodinma also added his voice to enlighten the people about what bringing the establishment close meant.
The Executive Chairman of EFCC, Mr Olukoyede stressed in his speech that the establishment of a regional office of the commission in Awka, the Anambra State capital was to serve Anambra and Imo States and not to hound its people, stating that it can help them in several ways to safeguard their funds. He urged the people to look beyond the arrest of people, but to focus on how the commission coming close to them can guarantee the safety of their finances.
“The establishment of this directorate is integral to the Commission’s ongoing expansion, made possible by the generous appropriations of the National Assembly and the critical interventions of President Bola Tinubu. There is no doubt that Anambra and Imo States deserve effective and responsive institutional presence. These states are renowned for enterprise, innovation, commerce and an extraordinary culture of industry. Across both states, we see Nigerians creating businesses, building industries, trading, investing and generating employment.
“These legitimate economic activities must be protected from fraud, cybercrime, money laundering, investment frauds, diversion of public resources and other forms of economic and financial crime. Therefore, our coming to Awka is beyond geographical expansion. It is about taking the mandate of the EFCC closer to the people and closer to the economic activities we are meant to protect. EFCC exists not merely to arrest and prosecute. Our official mission encompasses prevention, enforcement and coordination in the effort to eradicate economic and financial crimes. This balance is extremely important. We must prosecute cases on the strength of evidence. We must trace and recover proceeds of crime. However, a fundamental question is, how do we prevent financial crime from occurring in the first place? If we can identify vulnerabilities before billions of naira are lost, prevent fraudulent transactions before citizens lose their savings, strengthen procurement systems before public resources are diverted and interrupt criminal financial flows before they mature, then we would have saved the nation enormous economic and social costs.”
Beyond those explanations, which seemed tailored to answer questions on the lips of Anambra people about bringing a law enforcement agency like EFCC to them for intimidation, the Governor of Anambra State, who has been on the receiving end since his political feud with one of his predecessors, Mr Peter Obi started, also offered explanations. Soludo has been bashed by supporters of Obi who see him as colluding with government at the centre to keep the Igbo nation down by bringing only agencies that subjugate them. But he offered his explanations as if he came ready to clarify issues about the establishment of the commission in Anambra.
Soludo said: “We are enthusiastic about having EFCC in Awka not because our people are criminals and whatever, but we are begining to drill down the fight against economic and financial crimes to the grassroots. Fighting crime is the responsibility of everybody. Ideally, EFCC should be in the 774 LGAs, but with just 6,000 staff, there is a limit. Welcome to Anambra, we will cooperate with you in everyway possible to ensure that your work goes well. The work of the EFCC is pivotal to our national development and many people may not appreciate it because what they see is EFCC arresting people. But in a society where you have pervasive economic and financial crimes, that society will not move forward economically or in development.”
Soludo went further to tell the story of how the commission can help enforce transparency and his personal encounter. Though he failed to mention the controversy surrounding the minting of polymer notes during his time as Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, it was obvious he was referring to that. He said: “My personal testimonies about the professionalism of this commission is that when I left office as CBN Governor, about three years after, EFCC was investigating an agency within the bank; the mint. I was chairman of board of the mint and I was given one month notice of investigation and I showed up. After about a year, I didn’t hear from them, so I wrote them and they said investigation so far didn’t show anything about me.
“When some journalists mentioned my name in connection with the investigation, the former chairman of EFCC told them that I was not the subject of the investigation. Subsequently, they wrote me a beautiful letter and said their investigation showed I didn’t have anything to do with the matter. So I deeply appreciate the professionalism of the commission. I want to urge that if you invite someone and later fail to find them complicit, you must write and say so, especially in this part of the world when if you invite people, it finds its way to the pages of the newspaper because they see invitation as indictment.”
Speaking further, Soludo assured that the establishment of EFCC Zonal Directorate in Anambra was not for witch-hunt, but can serve several other purposes. He applauded the professionalism of the EFCC, adding that in Anambra, the State will not wait until it came looking in its books, but will come knocking because the state needs the commission’s help in the areas of revenue, tax and training. “We need training for our civil service, training for staff of Local government and others. Many of these crimes people don’t know about, like procurement processes and rules,” Soludo said.
Also, Governor Uzodinma of Imo State described the establishment of EFCC Zonal Directorate as a major step towards bringing the commission closer to the people. Uzodimma said the decentralization of the commission’s operations would save residents of the South-East the stress of travelling to Lagos or Abuja to attend to EFCC-related matters. He also praised EFCC Chairman, Ola Olukoyede, for what he described as a more humane approach to the commission’s operations. “Under the administration of the current chairman, the modus operandi of EFCC has a human face. People are beginning to know that they are not enemies; rather, they can be your friends,” he said.
To further buttress the achievements of the directorate, which has remained beneficial to both states, the commission revealed that with a space of nine months in operation, it has helped people of both state reclaim lost and swindled properties and cash. It said within the period the regional office has been in operation, since February 2026, it has received a total of 393 petitions, investigating 311 of such petitions, secured 58 convictions and recovered 111 plots of land worth N323million. He said a total of N835.9million, $1,135, €400 have been recovered too. Giving the people the hope that the directorate is not for witch-hunt, but to secure them and help them recover stolen funds too.