Corruption: There Are Pastors, Imams In EFCC Custody – EFCC Chair

Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ola Olukoyede, has disclosed that several religious leaders, including Pastors and Imams, are currently in detention over fraud-related cases.

He said others have already been convicted.

The EFCC chairman spoke at the Jerry Eze Foundation business grant award ceremony.

According to him, corruption was not limited to political or corporate spaces.

He insisted that religious institutions have also come under scrutiny in anti-graft investigations.

“I have a lot of them in my holding facility as I’m talking to you. I have a lot of them that are convicted for fraudulent practices,” he said.

He argued that misconduct should be seen as a personal failure rather than a reflection of any faith.

Christian and Islamic institutions, he noted, are equally vulnerable to abuse, noting that anti-corruption enforcement has reached both the pulpit and the mosque.

He said the agency’s experience has shown that integrity is rooted in individual character, not titles or religious identity.

Olukoyede’s remarks also revived attention on regulatory powers granted under the Companies and Allied Matters Act.

The act empowers authorities to intervene in the affairs of religious bodies and associations where fraud, misconduct or mismanagement is suspected.

The law, signed in 2020, stirred fierce resistance from many church leaders at the time, with critics describing it as state interference in religious affairs.

But in a separate revelation, Olukoyede disclosed that the EFCC once investigated Jerry Eze, founder of Streams of Joy International, following intelligence reports linking his accounts to suspicious foreign inflows.

According to him, the probe lasted six months and tracked transactions from countries including Colombia, the United States, Sri Lanka and Togo.

“We saw dollars and pounds dropping in like raindrops,” he said.

The anti-graft chief, however, said the investigation found no evidence of money laundering or financial misconduct against the cleric.

Rather than prosecution, he said the outcome reinforced the agency’s belief that anti-corruption work must also include recognising transparency and ethical conduct.

“People identify us with criminals, with suspects, and all of that. I also have a preventive mandate,” Olukoyede said.

“EFCC should also be identified with precious people who have integrity. We must drum them up”, he stated.

He described Jerry Eze as deserving of institutional validation for demonstrating integrity, though he added jokingly that no formal clearance letter would be issued as the commission would continue to monitor financial activities within its statutory powers.