The Lead Pastor of Streams of Joy International, Jerry Eze, has responded to comments made by the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede, regarding an investigation into alleged money laundering.
The cleric made his remarks on Wednesday, during the Jerry Eze Foundation Business Grant Award Ceremony held in Abuja, where he reflected on the period he was under scrutiny, describing it as emotionally taxing.
Eze recalled that he was unaware of the basis of the investigation at the time and expressed confusion over why he was being linked to financial wrongdoing.
He said he had conversations with fellow clerics during the period as he struggled to understand the situation.
“I remember that the EFCC chairman was talking about the investigation. He’s saying it, and he’s happy. But he didn’t know the kind of… I remember talking to Pastor Poju at the time.
”I remember talking to Pastor Sarah. I’m like, what did I do? I’ve not done anything. I don’t know why these people are after me,” Eze said.
He also described the emotional weight of the experience, noting that it affected him even during his early morning ministry routines.
“I wake up, I’m driving to NSPPD in the morning. You did me wrong. I must say it.
”I’m driving in the morning, and I’m crying, and I’m saying, ‘Jesus, Lord, you know.’ I prayed for you. I put your name on the altar because it looked like, I didn’t know what it was,” he said.
Despite the ordeal, Eze said he was eventually relieved by the outcome of the investigation, which cleared him of wrongdoing.
“But then again, the interesting thing is that when he came, he said, ‘We looked through your books, and we didn’t find anything wrong you did,’ and I am beyond grateful to God,” he added.
His reaction followed earlier comments from EFCC Chairman Ola Olukoyede, who disclosed that he ordered a six-month investigation into the pastor after intelligence reports suggested significant inflows of foreign currencies into a domiciliary account linked to him.
“I am going to embarrass you today. I never wanted to say it, but I just felt that was my little way of making this contribution,” Olukoyede said.
“I investigated this man for six months for money laundering. We work by intelligence; we work by petitions.
”At some point, there was an account, a domiciliary account; dollars and pounds were dropping like raindrops from Colombia, from America, from Sri Lanka, even from Togo,” he said.
According to the EFCC chairman, investigators carried out a detailed review of the financial records and traced the origin of the funds in question.
After the investigation, Eze was invited to provide explanations on the transactions, including their connection to his ministry and charitable activities.
The EFCC said the inquiry ended without any evidence of wrongdoing.
The commission, rather than pursuing prosecution, commended the cleric and advised him to maintain transparency in his financial dealings while reaffirming its commitment to monitoring financial activities as part of its regulatory mandate.
