- EFCC Chairman Ola Olukoyede revealed that some Nigerian politicians are using crypto wallets to store illicit wealth.
- Olukoyede has urged a united front among regulators, law enforcement, financial institutions, and civil society.
- With over $56 billion crypto transactions recorded in one year, the country has also seen a sharp increase in fraud cases.
Some Nigerian politicians are hiding stolen public funds in crypto to avoid scrutiny, the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede, has warned.
As crypto booms across Nigeria, Olukoyede has called for stronger cyber resilience across the country’s financial ecosystem to combat money laundering and related fraud.
Nigerian Politicians Hiding Stolen Funds in Crypto
Speaking on Thursday, July 10, at the Africa Anti-Corruption Day event, Olukoyede revealed that the EFCC had uncovered a concerning trend: some public officials are using crypto wallets to conceal stolen funds and avoid detection.
“Virtual asset fraud is on the rise,” Olukoyede said during his address.
“Stolen funds and unexplained wealth are being warehoused in wallets and payment for services are being done through this window,” he added.
Olukoyede noted that while virtual assets have revolutionized global finance, they have also opened new avenues for financial crimes.
“The advent of virtual assets is a response to one of the qualities of money as a store of value like it is known in our elementary economies,” he explained.
“However, as with every progressive innovation, fraud starts to usually evolve, evolve ways of perverting their genuine purposes,” he added.
EFCC Calls for Stronger Measures
The EFCC chairman emphasized that effective cyber resilience cannot be achieved in isolation.
He proposed three core strategies to bolster digital defences:
- Stronger collaboration between regulators, law enforcement, financial institutions, and civil society.
- Increased investment in cybersecurity infrastructure and skilled personnel.
- A coordinated national framework that brings all stakeholders together under a unified vision.
Muhammad Abdullahi, Deputy Governor of Economic Policy at the Central Bank of Nigeria, highlighted the massive growth in crypto transactions across the country.
“In Nigeria, over $56 billion in crypto-related transactions were recorded between July 2022 and June 2023, making the country Africa’s digital transaction leader,” Abdullahi said .
However, he noted this boom has been accompanied by a surge in financial fraud.
According to the Central Bank’s 2024 Financial Stability Report , there has been a 45% increase in fraud cases, with over 70% of those losses linked to unregulated digital asset services.
“Furthermore, over 30 Ponzi-style investment schemes exploiting digital currency narratives have been flagged by the SEC and other agencies,” Abdullahi added.
Crypto Scams Rise Globally
As the global appetite for crypto grows, with Bitcoin reaching a new all-time high on Wednesday, July 9, so does the sophistication of the scams that unfortunately surround it.
From eerily convincing deepfake videos to Bitcoin ATM cons targeting the elderly, cybercriminals are weaponizing technologies and emotional exploits to get a piece of the boom.
According to blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis, the increase of AI and “pig butchering” scams helped lift crypto scams to record heights in 2024.
Revenue from crypto scams in 2024 was at least $9.9 billion, the firm reported, although this could increase to $12.4 billion as more data becomes avaliable.
The blockchain firm reported that pig butchering scams also increased up to 40% from the year prior.
