Bring LG crypto thieves to justice

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OLA Olukoyede, the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, has exposed yet another disturbing dimension of corruption in Nigeria. It makes for deeply uncomfortable reading. Public funds are allegedly being moved from a local government account to a private company and subsequently funnelled into cryptocurrency wallets.

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Such a scheme to spirit public money beyond the reach of conventional financial controls demands a thorough investigation, swift prosecution and, where guilt is established, the full weight of the law.

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Unfortunately, Olukoyede, who described the transactions as “suspicious movement of public funds,” did not disclose the local government, state or company involved. Nigerians deserve to know more. Transparency is important when an anti-graft agency makes such a grave allegation involving public funds.

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The sums involved in LG financing are hardly trivial. The total monthly allocations distributed by the Federation Account Allocation Committee to Nigeria’s 774 LGs between January and August 2026 surpassed N3.7 trillion.

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That enormous pool of money is supposed to translate into roads, water, primary healthcare, education, sanitation and other basic services at the grassroots. Instead, if the EFCC allegation is proven, some officials appear to regard LG allocations as a private purse to be laundered through increasingly sophisticated channels.

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Nigeria’s already dismal corruption record makes the development even more troubling. Ranked 142nd out of 182 jurisdictions in Transparency International’s 2026 Corruption Perceptions Index, the country can ill afford another avenue for public resources to disappear into private hands.

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Olukoyede said the EFCC’s Fraud Risk Assessment and Control Department detected the suspicious transactions and intervened.

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“When we see money moving suspiciously, we move in and freeze it in the interim,” he said, explaining that an account was frozen for 72 hours to establish where the money was going. According to him, investigators discovered that funds had moved from a local government account to a company and subsequently into cryptocurrency wallets.

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The EFCC deserves credit for intervening before the alleged proceeds could disappear completely.

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Prevention is infinitely better than chasing stolen funds after they have been dissipated.

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But intervention is only the beginning. The EFCC must complete its investigation, identify everyone involved and prosecute those against whom sufficient evidence is established. Nigerians have heard too many stories of spectacular corruption allegations that eventually disappear into the bureaucratic wilderness.

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There must be consequences.

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The alleged diversion of public funds also raises serious questions about compliance with the Public Procurement Act and other laws governing the management and expenditure of public resources. Public officials entrusted with taxpayers’ money cannot be allowed to treat government accounts as conduits for private enrichment.

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The Supreme Court’s landmark July 2024 judgement on LG financial autonomy was intended to strengthen the third tier of government by ensuring that allocations go directly to LG accounts with the Central Bank of Nigeria.

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The objective was to free councils from the financial stranglehold of state governments and give them the resources and independence to serve their communities.

n

That reform must not become a perverse opportunity for a new generation of grassroots kleptocrats.

n

Indeed, if LGs are receiving greater direct access to public funds but weak controls allow those funds to be channelled into private companies and cryptocurrency wallets, the country could simply be replacing one form of financial abuse with another.

n

The anti-graft agencies must therefore intensify surveillance of LG accounts, particularly transactions that bear the hallmarks of layering, rapid transfers, unexplained payments to private entities or conversion into crypto assets.

n

State Houses of Assembly also have an important role to play. Their constitutional oversight powers should not be reduced to political theatre. They must scrutinise local government finances and deal decisively with proven infractions.

n

LGs are the level of government closest to the people. Their failure is therefore felt most directly by ordinary Nigerians. A council that receives millions or billions of naira but cannot provide basic services is a betrayal of the people who depend on it.

n

Citizens, too, must become more vigilant. Communities should monitor allocations and expenditures in their LGs and demand explanations for projects that exist only on paper. Civil society organisations and the media should make LG finances a permanent subject of scrutiny rather than an occasional headline.

n

Whistle-blowers who provide credible, actionable intelligence about the diversion of public funds must be protected and appropriately rewarded.

n

The alleged use of young Nigerians as fronts by public officials to move stolen funds through cryptocurrency wallets is particularly disturbing. It shows how corruption is adapting to technology and exploiting the anonymity, speed and complexity of digital financial transactions.

n

But technology can also be used against the thieves.

n

The rollout of the Presidential Executive Order on Virtual Assets Coordination and new tracking mechanisms under the Nigeria Tax Administration Act should strengthen the authorities’ ability to identify suspicious transactions.

n

Measures designed to link cryptocurrency transactions to National Identification Numbers and Tax Identification Numbers can help close the anonymity gap that criminals seek to exploit.

n

The licensing of 40 virtual asset platforms in Nigeria also gives regulators and law-enforcement agencies a potentially important trail for tracing transactions and establishing the origin and destination of illicit funds. That system must be robust enough to withstand manipulation and insider compromise. Multi-layered controls, independent oversight and secure audit trails are indispensable.

n

Similarly, the Federal Government’s approval of a national confiscation wallet for virtual assets recovered by law-enforcement agencies is a welcome step. But recovery without accountability merely creates another black box. Every confiscated asset must be properly valued, documented, secured and ultimately accounted for.

n

Most importantly, the country must resolve the political contradiction surrounding LG autonomy. Despite the Supreme Court’s judgment, many councils remain financially and administratively constrained by state governments.

n

Genuine LG autonomy cannot exist merely on paper or in court judgments; it must be reflected in the ability of councils to control their lawful revenues and spend them transparently for the benefit of their communities.

n

The trillions now accruing to LGs following the removal of fuel subsidies should be a historic opportunity to transform grassroots development.

n

Those funds should build roads, clinics, schools, water systems, markets and other infrastructure. They should improve social services and stimulate local economic activity.

n

They must not end up in private companies, anonymous wallets or the pockets of officials masquerading as public servants.

n

Olukoyede’s revelation should therefore not be allowed to become another sensational headline that fades from public memory. The EFCC must follow the money, expose the networks behind the alleged transactions and bring the culprits to justice.

n

OLA Olukoyede, the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, has exposed yet another disturbing dimension of corruption in Nigeria. It makes for deeply uncomfortable reading. Public funds are allegedly being moved from a local government account to a private company and subsequently funnelled into cryptocurrency wallets.

n

Such a scheme to spirit public money beyond the reach of conventional financial controls demands a thorough investigation, swift prosecution and, where guilt is established, the full weight of the law.

n

Unfortunately, Olukoyede, who described the transactions as “suspicious movement of public funds,” did not disclose the local government, state or company involved. Nigerians deserve to know more. Transparency is important when an anti-graft agency makes such a grave allegation involving public funds.

n

The sums involved in LG financing are hardly trivial. The total monthly allocations distributed by the Federation Account Allocation Committee to Nigeria’s 774 LGs between January and August 2026 surpassed N3.7 trillion.

n

That enormous pool of money is supposed to translate into roads, water, primary healthcare, education, sanitation and other basic services at the grassroots. Instead, if the EFCC allegation is proven, some officials appear to regard LG allocations as a private purse to be laundered through increasingly sophisticated channels.

n

Nigeria’s already dismal corruption record makes the development even more troubling. Ranked 142nd out of 182 jurisdictions in Transparency International’s 2026 Corruption Perceptions Index, the country can ill afford another avenue for public resources to disappear into private hands.

n

Olukoyede said the EFCC’s Fraud Risk Assessment and Control Department detected the suspicious transactions and intervened.

n

“When we see money moving suspiciously, we move in and freeze it in the interim,” he said, explaining that an account was frozen for 72 hours to establish where the money was going. According to him, investigators discovered that funds had moved from a local government account to a company and subsequently into cryptocurrency wallets.

n

The EFCC deserves credit for intervening before the alleged proceeds could disappear completely.

n

Prevention is infinitely better than chasing stolen funds after they have been dissipated.

n

But intervention is only the beginning. The EFCC must complete its investigation, identify everyone involved and prosecute those against whom sufficient evidence is established. Nigerians have heard too many stories of spectacular corruption allegations that eventually disappear into the bureaucratic wilderness.

n

There must be consequences.

n

The alleged diversion of public funds also raises serious questions about compliance with the Public Procurement Act and other laws governing the management and expenditure of public resources. Public officials entrusted with taxpayers’ money cannot be allowed to treat government accounts as conduits for private enrichment.

n

The Supreme Court’s landmark July 2024 judgement on LG financial autonomy was intended to strengthen the third tier of government by ensuring that allocations go directly to LG accounts with the Central Bank of Nigeria.

n

The objective was to free councils from the financial stranglehold of state governments and give them the resources and independence to serve their communities.

n

That reform must not become a perverse opportunity for a new generation of grassroots kleptocrats.

n

Indeed, if LGs are receiving greater direct access to public funds but weak controls allow those funds to be channelled into private companies and cryptocurrency wallets, the country could simply be replacing one form of financial abuse with another.

n

The anti-graft agencies must therefore intensify surveillance of LG accounts, particularly transactions that bear the hallmarks of layering, rapid transfers, unexplained payments to private entities or conversion into crypto assets.

n

State Houses of Assembly also have an important role to play. Their constitutional oversight powers should not be reduced to political theatre. They must scrutinise local government finances and deal decisively with proven infractions.

n

LGs are the level of government closest to the people. Their failure is therefore felt most directly by ordinary Nigerians. A council that receives millions or billions of naira but cannot provide basic services is a betrayal of the people who depend on it.

n

Citizens, too, must become more vigilant. Communities should monitor allocations and expenditures in their LGs and demand explanations for projects that exist only on paper. Civil society organisations and the media should make LG finances a permanent subject of scrutiny rather than an occasional headline.

n

Whistle-blowers who provide credible, actionable intelligence about the diversion of public funds must be protected and appropriately rewarded.

n

The alleged use of young Nigerians as fronts by public officials to move stolen funds through cryptocurrency wallets is particularly disturbing. It shows how corruption is adapting to technology and exploiting the anonymity, speed and complexity of digital financial transactions.

n

But technology can also be used against the thieves.

n

The rollout of the Presidential Executive Order on Virtual Assets Coordination and new tracking mechanisms under the Nigeria Tax Administration Act should strengthen the authorities’ ability to identify suspicious transactions.

n

Measures designed to link cryptocurrency transactions to National Identification Numbers and Tax Identification Numbers can help close the anonymity gap that criminals seek to exploit.

n

The licensing of 40 virtual asset platforms in Nigeria also gives regulators and law-enforcement agencies a potentially important trail for tracing transactions and establishing the origin and destination of illicit funds. That system must be robust enough to withstand manipulation and insider compromise. Multi-layered controls, independent oversight and secure audit trails are indispensable.

n

Similarly, the Federal Government’s approval of a national confiscation wallet for virtual assets recovered by law-enforcement agencies is a welcome step. But recovery without accountability merely creates another black box. Every confiscated asset must be properly valued, documented, secured and ultimately accounted for.

n

Most importantly, the country must resolve the political contradiction surrounding LG autonomy. Despite the Supreme Court’s judgment, many councils remain financially and administratively constrained by state governments.

n

Genuine LG autonomy cannot exist merely on paper or in court judgments; it must be reflected in the ability of councils to control their lawful revenues and spend them transparently for the benefit of their communities.

n

The trillions now accruing to LGs following the removal of fuel subsidies should be a historic opportunity to transform grassroots development.

n

Those funds should build roads, clinics, schools, water systems, markets and other infrastructure. They should improve social services and stimulate local economic activity.

n

They must not end up in private companies, anonymous wallets or the pockets of officials masquerading as public servants.

n

Olukoyede’s revelation should therefore not be allowed to become another sensational headline that fades from public memory. The EFCC must follow the money, expose the networks behind the alleged transactions and bring the culprits to justice.

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