Economic and Financial Crimes Commission Chairman Ola Olukoyede said on Wednesday that the agency investigated Pastor Jerry Eze for six months over alleged money laundering before inviting the cleric and commending him at the end of the probe.
Olukoyede disclosed the investigation at the Jerry Eze Foundation Business Grant Award Ceremony in Abuja, where he said the agency had observed a domiciliary account in which “dollars and pounds were dropping like raindrops from different countries.” He said the inquiry lasted six months and ended with an invitation to Eze after the commission concluded its work.
The remarks turned an awards ceremony into an unexpected look at how the anti-graft agency assesses high-profile financial activity. The foundation event itself was focused on support for small business owners, but Olukoyede used the platform to describe a completed investigation that had not been public before his comments on Wednesday.
What Olukoyede did not say was whether the commission found any wrongdoing. He said only that the probe was carried out, that the account activity drew scrutiny, and that Eze was invited when the investigation ended. That leaves the chairman’s praise standing beside the allegation he described, with no public detail from him on any charge or case to follow.
For now, the clearest takeaway is that the EFCC chairman says the six-month review of Jerry Eze ended without escalation at the ceremony where it was first revealed. The question left hanging is not whether the probe happened — Olukoyede said it did — but what, if anything, the commission’s review ultimately found.
