The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) of Nigeria has raised fresh concerns over the growing use of cryptocurrency by Nigerian politicians and high-profile individuals to conceal illicit funds.
Speaking at a public forum during an event to mark Africa Anti-Corruption Day, EFCC Chairman, Ola Olukoyede, said illegal money flows are a revealed that are a major threat to Africa’s development, mainly because of money laundering and growing digital asset fraud.
#AUAnticorruptionday pic.twitter.com/9puIhH4Gef
— EFCC Nigeria (@officialEFCC) July 11, 2025
Olukoyede also revealed that the agency had uncovered multiple instances where politically exposed persons (PEPs) and government officials are hiding looted public funds in digital wallets. These wallets are often controlled by proxies and are difficult to trace due to the decentralized nature of virtual assets.
“These flows are coming from diverse criminal activities, with money laundering ranking as the highest,” he said.
“Another rising criminal engagement that has the potential to outpace even money laundering on the continent is virtual assets and investment scams.
The use of crypto by politically exposed persons to hide ill-gotten wealth is becoming more common,” Olukoyede stated.
“We are actively monitoring and investigating these cases.”
He clarified that while virtual assets, such as cryptocurrencies and digital tokens, were not inherently illegal, their misuse was increasingly enabling illicit financial flows across the continent.
He warned that the anonymity provided by crypto platforms poses a major challenge for law enforcement and regulators in tracking financial crimes. The agency is now intensifying efforts to monitor suspicious transactions involving cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin and stablecoins such as Tether (USDT).
“Our findings showed that fraudulent politicians are already perfecting schemes and hiding their loot in cryptocurrencies to beat the investigative dragnets of anti-corruption agencies,” he said.
“Stolen funds and unexplained wealth are being warehoused in wallets, and payments for services are being done through this window.”
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The comments come only a few days after the commission issued a notice to operators that it was amending its rules on Digital Asset Issuance, Offering Platforms,… pic.twitter.com/zZ6KZWTpd9
— BitKE (@BitcoinKE) June 28, 2024
In addition to political corruption, the EFCC also flagged a rise in virtual asset-related fraud targeting unsuspecting Nigerians. The Commission noted a spike in Ponzi schemes, investment scams, and online frauds disguised as crypto opportunities.
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— Top Kenyan Blogs (@Blogs_Kenya) June 16, 2025
Olukoyede urged members of the public to remain vigilant and report suspicious crypto-related schemes to the EFCC. He emphasized the importance of public awareness and stronger collaboration between regulatory agencies to tackle the emerging threats posed by virtual assets.
“ We need transparency in resource management. That’s all we need. Everywhere you go in Nigeria, you see natural resources all around you. We will succeed if we are resolute about resource management”, he said.
The EFCC’s boss also located a direct nexus between mismanagement of resources and insecurity, maintaining that “mismanagement of resources is behind banditry, kidnapping, terrorism and other acts of insecurity.”
Olukeyede called on custodians of stolen assets abroad to cooperate with the EFCC in getting the assets returned to the country, arguing that “custodians of stolen assets are as guilty as those that stole the assets.”
The EFCC Chairman also highlighted the need for Nigeria to implement a clear and robust legal framework for the regulation of cryptocurrencies to prevent abuse and enhance accountability.
This comes amid growing concern from international bodies like the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which recently flagged Nigeria’s rapid crypto adoption as a risk to capital flows, financial stability, and regulatory oversight.
REGULATION | IMF Flags Nigeria’s Crypto Surge as a Threat to FX Stability, Capital Controls – Urges for ‘Enforceable Legal Framework Urgently’@IMFNews says: – Undermines FX policy – Complicates capital flow tracking – Opens door to illicit financehttps://t.co/lJtD5btGb1
— BitKE (@BitcoinKE) July 9, 2025
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