Olukoyede charges banks’ compliance officers on measures to combat financial crimes
The Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC) Mr. Ola Olukoyede, has called on compliance officers in the nation’s banking sector to embrace technology-driven measures to combat financial crimes.
He made this call in Lagos on Wednesday, at the 2025 Annual Stakeholders Conference of the Association of Chief Compliance Officers in the Banking Industry of Nigeria, ACCOBIN, themed “Beyond Compliance: AI, Risk, and the Future of Financial Integrity”.
He stated that the traditional compliance measures were no longer sufficient in tackling financial crimes, especially in the face of the threats posed by Artificial Intelligence, AI, and cryptocurrency.
The EFCC’ Chairman, who was represented by Head, Investigations, Lagos Zonal Directorate 1 of the EFCC, Shehu Ala , described compliance officers as “unrecognised pillars” of Nigeria’s financial system and critical gatekeepers in the fight against money laundering and economic sabotage.
Highlighting the dual role of artificial intelligence (AI) in detecting and enabling fraud, Olukoyede noted that while AI had drastically improved transaction monitoring by reducing false positives by up to 60% in some jurisdictions, criminals were also deploying the same technology to commit financial crimes.
He cited the use of deepfake videos and synthetic identities to bypass security systems and authorize fraudulent transactions.
While referencing data from Chain-analysis, he stated that cryptocurrencies and virtual assets had become major conduits for illicit financial flows.
He also disclosed that the EFCC investigations uncovered a cryptocurrency investment fraud syndicate and a wide-scale romance scam involving foreign nationals operating within Nigeria.
Olukoyede called for urgent reforms and pro-active enforcement in the sector, urging stakeholders to adopt a four-pronged strategy.
