The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has denied allegations that its Chairman, Ola Olukoyede, met with a former South-South governor and his predecessor 48 hours before they defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The denial follows claims made by Paul Ibe, spokesperson to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, during an interview on Channels Television
Ibe, who was a guest on Seun Okinbaloye’s Politics Today on Channels Television on Thursday, alleged that the EFCC Chairman and the Solicitor General met with a former and a serving governor from the South-South region 48 hours before they decamped to the APC.
He also claimed that the meeting took place at a government lodge in the South-South state.
The allegations were made in relation to the defection of Delta State Governor Sheriff Oborevwori and his predecessor, Ifeanyi Okowa, from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the APC in April.
Reacting to the allegation, the EFCC in a statement on Friday, said it was “outraged” by Ibe’s “unfounded claims”, describing it as “patently fabricated.
“The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, is outraged by the unfounded claims of Mr Paul Ibe, spokesperson to Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, former Vice President, alleging that Ola Olukoyede, Executive Chairman, held a secret meeting with an unnamed politician.
“Ibe, who was a guest on Seun Okinbaloye’s Politics Today on Channels Television on Thursday, May 22, 2025, bared his mind on sundry theories, conjectures and assumptions relating to opposition politics and defections.
“However, his allegations of the Executive Chairman EFCC, Mr Ola Olukoyede and Solicitor General of the Federation’s alleged meeting with an unnamed governor 48 hours before his defection to the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC), are patently fabricated and in bad taste, ” the statement said.
The commission emphasised that Olukoyede was apolitical and that the EFCC was wired against partisan tendencies.
“Olukoyede has stressed it at several fora that he is apolitical and the EFCC totally wired against partisan tendencies, ” the statement added.
Olukoyede enjoined the public to disregard the allegation as it exists only in “Ibe’s imagination”.
