UPDATE: Buhari Suspends EFCC Secretary, 10 Other Officials

President Muhammadu Buhari has suspended over 10 senior officials of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

It was gathered that the EFCC’s executive secretary, Olanipekun Olukoyede, was among top officials of the commission suspended by President Buhari.

Olukoyede became the Secretary to the EFCC in November 2018 following confirmation by the Senate.

The Ikere-Ekiti born senior lawyer was a former chief of staff to Magu. He replaced Emmanuel Aremo, whose five-year tenure expired in July 2018.

The notice of suspension was communicated to the Acting Chairman of the Commission, Mr. Mohammed Umar, on Tuesday night by the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation.

The action was said to be in connection with the ongoing investigation of the suspended Acting Chairman of the agency, Mr. Ibrahim Magu.

A presidency source told PM News that, “they were suspended for various alleged criminal and corrupt infractions.”

According to the source, the senior officials were suspended by Buhari to allow an unhindered investigation into activities of the EFCC under Magu.

“All the top officials in the agency have been suspended, their offices locked, to prevent any tampering with files at the commission,” the source added.

The source also revealed that the recently appointed chairman of the commission was not suspended because he was found not to be a part of the suspected underhand dealings in the EFCC.

Naija News reports that President Buhari had last week confirmed the suspension of Magu while replacing him with Umar, the agency’s Head of Operations.

Ibrahim is facing a presidential panel led by Justice Ayo Salami probing various allegation levelled against him.