EFCC Spent N54Million To Sponsor Five Judges For London Symposium

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has spent N54 million to sponsor five judges on a trip to London, United Kingdom.

The payment, made on August 27, 2025, was issued to Wakanow.com Limited, according to records on the public expenditure portal, Govspend.

Confirming the transaction, EFCC spokesperson Dele Oyewale defended the expenditure, saying the sponsorship was aimed at strengthening institutional capacity in the fight against financial crimes.

He explained that the judges were nominated by the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) and attended an annual symposium held at the University of Cambridge.

“The trip was sponsored to enable the judges and some members of the National Assembly attend a yearly International Symposium on Financial Crimes at the Cambridge University, London,” Oyewale said.

“The judges were nominated by the Chief Justice of Nigeria. There is nothing untoward or illegitimate about it. The symposium was meant to broaden the perspectives of the attendees and deepen their understanding of issues involved in economic and financial crimes.”

“Experts from all corners of the world usually converge to share experiences on their handling of corruption issues. The EFCC should be commended for the sponsorship of stakeholders to the symposium,” the EFCC spokesman added.

Oyewale further stated that the sponsorship extended beyond judicial officers, noting that EFCC personnel and other stakeholders were also in attendance.

“The judges were not the only ones that went, even staff of the commission were there and other persons too who made the trip. You can check the symposium which is an annual event and different experts come around to attend the program,” he told SaharaReporters.

However, he disputed the reported figure of N54 million, describing it as exaggerated.

“The amount of N54 million put here (on Govspend) as spent appears on the high side,” he told SaharaReporters.

The development has drawn comparisons to a similar 2023 report by SaharaReporters involving the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), in which judges were reportedly sponsored for a training programme in London, sparking public controversy.

It was reported that the agency’s then Managing Director, Ahmed Kuru, and Modibbo Tukur, former Director/Chief Executive of the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), who also served on a high-level committee constituted in 2019 to target major debtors, were involved in organising the annual training programme for senior judicial officers in London, although the Federal High Court later denied any involvement in the arrangement.

The recurring nature of such foreign-sponsored training programmes has continued to raise concerns among observers about the independence and impartiality of the judiciary in Nigeria, particularly amid lingering allegations of bias in some judicial decisions. (SaharaReporters)