Anambra State Governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, has clarified that he was never arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), saying he was only invited by the agency to answer questions during an investigation involving an organisation under the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) when he was governor of the apex bank.
Soludo made the clarification on Friday, October 2, 2026, during the official commissioning of the EFCC's new Zonal Directorate in Awka, Anambra State.
The governor said his experience with the anti-graft agency demonstrated what he described as the professionalism of the EFCC, explaining that he honoured an invitation to clarify what he knew about an investigation concerning the Nigeria Security Printing and Minting organisation.
According to Soludo, the incident occurred about two or three years after he left office as CBN governor.
He explained that EFCC investigators were examining an issue involving an agency of the CBN, while he had been chairman of its board during his tenure.
Soludo said he received a one-month notice from the commission asking him to appear and explain what he knew about the matter.
He honoured the invitation and appeared before the investigators.
The governor said he subsequently heard nothing from the EFCC for about a year, prompting him to write the commission to ask about the status of the investigation.
According to him, the EFCC responded that its investigation had not revealed anything incriminating against him.
Soludo said he later sought further clarification about the outcome of the investigation and was eventually informed in writing that there was no evidence against him.
He said a former EFCC chairman also subsequently clarified publicly that he had not been a subject of the investigation.
Rather, according to Soludo, he was invited because he had been chairman of the relevant board and investigators wanted to establish what he knew about the matter.
The governor said the experience reinforced his confidence in the importance of investigative agencies informing people who are invited for questioning about the eventual outcome of investigations.
Speaking at the commissioning, Soludo praised the EFCC for bringing its operations closer to the people of the South-East.
“We are excited to host this EFCC office in Awka. You are beginning to drill down the function of fighting crimes to the grassroots,” he said, adding that fighting economic and financial crime was “everybody's business.”
The governor said effective action against financial crimes was important for protecting public resources, legitimate businesses and Nigeria's economic development.
The new Awka directorate will serve Anambra and Imo states, expanding the EFCC's operational presence in the South-East.
EFCC Chairman Ola Olukoyede said the new directorate would not focus only on arrests and prosecution but would also place significant emphasis on preventing financial crimes.
He said the office would engage government institutions, businesses, financial institutions, schools, markets, traditional institutions, religious organisations and civil society groups.
Olukoyede said the agency's objective was to identify vulnerabilities before financial crimes occurred and prevent the loss or diversion of public and private resources.
He disclosed that between October 2023 and July 2026, the EFCC received 49,673 petitions, investigated 39,615 cases, filed 14,476 cases in court and secured 10,872 convictions.
For the first half of 2026 alone, he said the commission secured 1,370 convictions from 1,889 cases and recovered more than ₦1.23 trillion, alongside recoveries in dollars, pounds and euros.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was represented at the commissioning by Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas.
The President commended the EFCC's performance, saying its convictions, asset recoveries and other achievements demonstrated that the confidence placed in the agency was justified.
For Soludo, however, the occasion also provided an opportunity to publicly clarify his previous interaction with the anti-graft agency: he said he was invited to answer questions during an investigation, not arrested, and that the EFCC subsequently informed him that it found no evidence against him.
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