The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede, has appointed Michael Nzekwe as his Chief of Staff with immediate effect.

Olukoyede also appointed zonal directors for each of the 14 zonal commands of the EFCC.

The appointments were disclosed in a statement issued by the anti-graft agency on Saturday, April 27, 2024.

The commission noted that Olukoyede, in his restructuring and repositioning of the EFCC, equally upgraded all the zonal commands of the anti-graft agency to the status of departments,  with each of them headed by a director.

“To this effect, 14 new directors have been appointed to head each of the zonal commands,” it said.

It stated that the security unit of the EFCC has been upgraded to a department with a seasoned officer appointed as Director, Security and Chief Security Officer to bolster and fortify the security architecture of the commission.

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The EFCC disclosed that a new department has also been created in the chairman’s office and it is headed by former Makurdi Zonal Commander of the anti-graft agency, Friday Ebelo, who also doubles as Director and Coordinator, Special Duties at the corporate headquarters of the commission.

It added that the former Department of Internal Affairs has been renamed the Department of Ethics and Integrity and minor reshuffling effected in some departments at the headquarters.

The commission stated that an important component of the restructuring is the creation of a new department to drive the preventive mandate of the EFCC, adding that Olukoyede, in an unprecedented move, created the Fraud Risk Assessment and Control Department to handle the important work of the commission.

“The department has commenced operations and its impact would be felt more across the country in a short while,” it said.

The anti-graft agency further quoted Olukoyede as saying that the ongoing restructuring is meant for the repositioning and strengthening of the EFCC to deliver on its assigned mandate optimally.

Nzekwe, an investigator, lawyer, and former Commander of the Ilorin Zonal Command of the EFCC is a course one officer of the commission.

He has served in various departments in the commission, including the Legal and Prosecution Department, Department of Operations (now Department of Investigations), Department of Internal Affairs (now Department of Ethics and Integrity), Servicom, and Asset Forfeiture Department.

The Star