How council money ended up in crypto wallets, and what EFCC's 72-hour freeze means

The head of Nigeria's anti-graft agency says his officers caught public money on its way from a local government account into cryptocurrency wallets. Speaking at a media briefing in Abuja on Monday, 31 August 2026, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) chairman Ola Olukoyede described funds moving from a council's account to a private company and then on into crypto wallets, BusinessDay reported. He did not name the council, the company or the state.

The commission's Fraud Risk Assessment and Control Department flagged the payments and froze the money for 72 hours to find out where it was going and why, according to Tribune. Olukoyede also said some officials now move stolen funds into crypto within 24 hours, sometimes through young people, Prime Post reported.

It matters because councils are meant to be getting control of their own money, which makes their accounts a bigger target. And the 72-hour freeze had, weeks earlier, put the EFCC in a political row that reached the President.

What exactly did the EFCC say happened?

The account comes only from Olukoyede's remarks. A council paid a private company, the money moved on into crypto wallets, and the EFCC's prevention unit spotted it and placed a temporary hold (Vanguard). According to one report of the briefing, he said money is sometimes passed to students and other young people, who open wallets and move it abroad.

He gave no amount and did not say whether anyone has been charged. RainingMoney found no later reporting, up to 20 October 2026, that names the parties or reports a prosecution.

Olukoyede also said about 40 virtual asset platforms are licensed in Nigeria, which helps investigators trace wallets held on registered platforms (Nigeria Info). He said the government has also approved a national wallet to hold crypto seized by law enforcement (Pulse).

How does money get from a council account into a crypto wallet?

RainingMoney's reading, based on the route the EFCC described: the steps are designed to make each payment look ordinary on its own.

1. The council pays a company. On a bank statement this looks like an ordinary payment to a contractor or supplier.
2. The company passes the money on to individuals. Splitting it across many personal accounts, such as those of young people recruited as fronts, makes each transfer smaller and less likely to raise a flag.
3. The individuals buy crypto. Usually this means stablecoins, which are tokens designed to hold a steady value against the US dollar. They can be bought with naira on an exchange or from another person (peer-to-peer).
4. The coins move on. Once tokens leave a Nigerian-registered platform for a private wallet or a foreign exchange, tracing and recovering them becomes much harder.

Investigators call the middle steps "layering": passing money through several hands to hide where it came from. Crypto adds speed, since a transfer settles in minutes and ignores borders. The EFCC's case for acting fast is that once the money is coins in an offshore wallet, it is usually gone.

What is the 72-hour hold, and is it legal?

A hold, which bankers call a "Post No Debit" order, stops money leaving an account while money can still come in. The EFCC says it can impose one for up to 72 hours without a judge. Its spokesman, Wilson Uwujaren, cited Section 34 of the EFCC Act and Section 7(6) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act 2022 (Leadership). The money-laundering provision allows a stop order of up to 72 hours. To keep an account frozen beyond that, the commission has to go to court (TheCable).

Lawyers disagree about how far this reaches. Senior Advocate Femi Falana said the EFCC can restrict federal, state and local government accounts as long as it gets a court order within the time allowed (Naija News). Critics point to a 2019 Federal High Court ruling, in a case brought by Benue State, that the commission could not freeze a state's account. The EFCC appealed that ruling (BusinessDay).

The unit behind the hold, the Department of Fraud Risk Assessment and Control, was set up in 2024 to find weak points in government bodies before money is stolen (BusinessDay).

Why is the freeze politically sensitive?

In early August the EFCC put a hold on an Osun State Government account at First Bank, about 10 days before the 15 August governorship election (Leadership). The commission linked the move to an investigation into the alleged mishandling of about ₦11 billion in ecology funds, intervention funds and federation allocations. On 6 August, President Bola Tinubu told it to go back to court and have the order set aside. He said the commission was acting under a valid court order, but the timing could look like a federal agency interfering in an election (ICIR). The incumbent, Ademola Adeleke of the Accord Party, went on to win the election (Nairametrics).

Olukoyede did not link the council case to Osun. But he told the briefing he knew about calls for his removal and said the commission still had a duty to act (Chronicle).

What does local government autonomy have to do with it?

Nigeria's 774 councils share 20.60% of the money the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) distributes each month. The federal government gets 52.68% and the states 26.72% (Dataphyte). For decades the councils' share went through state-run joint accounts, and governors controlled it.

On 11 July 2024 the Supreme Court ruled that governors may not hold council funds and ordered that allocations be paid directly to councils (Channels TV).

Putting the ruling into practice has been slow. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) asked councils for two years of audited accounts before it would open accounts for direct payment (BusinessDay). FAAC said most councils had not supplied bank details, and at one point only Delta State's 25 councils had (Guardian).

RainingMoney's reading: taking money away from governors does not make it safe. It hands the job of guarding it to councils, many of which do not yet produce audited accounts. Until they do, an anti-graft agency's quick holds stand in for controls the councils should run themselves.

What to watch

• Whether the EFCC names the council and company, or files charges in this case.
• Any court ruling on the commission's power to freeze state and council accounts, including the appeal in the Benue matter.
• How many councils actually start receiving FAAC money directly, and whether their accounts are audited and published.
• How the national wallet for seized crypto is run, and whether its holdings are reported publicly.

The bottom line

The EFCC says it stopped council money that was on its way into crypto wallets, using a legal power to freeze accounts for up to 72 hours. So far the case rests only on its chairman's account, with no names, amounts or charges. The bigger story is the gap it points to. Councils are being promised control of their own money faster than they are being given the audits and controls to protect it.