Shake-up in EFCC as Olukoyede appoints new Chief of Staff

There was a major shake-up in the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Saturday as the Chairman of the commission, Ola Olukoyede, appointed Michael Nzekwe as his new Chief of Staff.

Nzekwe, a lawyer and investigator, who previously served as the Commander of the Ilorin Zonal Command of the EFCC, is a Course one officer of the commission.

His appointment takes effect immediately, according to the EFCC boss.

Olukoyede also changed nomenclature of two departments in commission which include the Department of Operations and Department of Internal Affairs while minor reshuffling was also effected in some Departments at the headquarters of the commission.

Daily Trust reports that the Department of Operations will now be known as Department of Investigations while the Department of Internal Affairs will now be known as Department of Ethics and Integrity.

The nomenclature of the Departments of Legal and Prosecution, Servicom as well as Asset Forfeiture Department remain the same.

The anti-graft agency’s boss equally upgraded all the zonal commands of the Commission to the status of Departments, with each of them headed by a Director. 14 new Directors have been appointed to head each of the Zonal Commands.

Commenting on the development, Olukoyede said the development was to bolster and fortify the security architecture of the Commission.

He added that the Security Unit of the EFCC had also been upgraded to a Department with a seasoned officer appointed as Director, Security and Chief Security Officer.

“The ongoing restructuring is meant for the repositioning and strengthening of the EFCC to deliver on its assigned mandate optimally,” Olukoyede told journalists in Abuja during the weekend.

In the same vein, a new Department has also been created in the Executive Chairman’s office and it is being headed by former Makurdi Zonal Commander of the EFCC, Friday Ebelo who also doubles as Director and Coordinator, Special Duties at the corporate headquarters of the Commission.