The EFCC was created by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (Establishment) Act 2002, with operational launch in April 2003 under Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, then a young Assistant Commissioner of Police seconded from the NPF. The immediate context was external: the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) had placed Nigeria on its Non-Cooperative Countries and Territories (NCCT) list in 2001, exposing Nigerian banks to higher correspondent-banking costs and threatening to lock Nigeria out of the global financial system. The EFCC was the federal government's institutional response.
Seven chairmen, by tenure:
- Nuhu Ribadu (2003–2007): The most prosecutorially aggressive era. Established the EFCC's reputation through high-profile cases — DSP Alamieyeseigha (Bayelsa Governor), James Ibori (Delta Governor, prosecuted later in the UK), Tafa Balogun (former IGP, convicted), Hamani Tidjani. Removed by Yar'Adua government in late 2007 after Ribadu refused to drop the Ibori case. Demoted from Assistant Inspector-General to Deputy Commissioner, ordered to attend NIPSS Kuru. Resigned, fled abroad, returned 2010. Now (2024) Tinubu's National Security Adviser.
- Farida Waziri (2008–2011): Yar'Adua and Jonathan-era. Notable for the prosecution of bank CEOs after the 2009 CBN-Sanusi banking-sector intervention (Cecilia Ibru, Erastus Akingbola, others). Removed by Jonathan in November 2011 amid criticism of low conviction rates.
- Ibrahim Lamorde (2011–2015): Internal EFCC career staff. Removed by Buhari in November 2015 over allegations of mis-handling of recovered assets; never charged.
- Ibrahim Magu (2015–2020): Acting Chairman for all five years because the Senate twice refused to confirm his substantive appointment. Suspended in July 2020 pending the Justice Ayo Salami Panel on allegations of insubordination and mis-management of recovered assets. Detained for two weeks. Never returned to EFCC.
- Abdulrasheed Bawa (2021–2023): Youngest chairman in EFCC history at appointment (40). Detained by the DSS in June 2023 in the early days of the Tinubu administration over unspecified allegations; held for several months without formal charges, formally removed in October 2023.
- Ola Olukoyede (2023–present): Tinubu appointee. Former Chief of Staff to the EFCC during the Magu era. Substantive Senate confirmation October 2023.
The documented pattern is that every chairman who has prosecuted a sitting or recently retired governor of the president's party has been removed within 18 months. Ribadu (Ibori), Magu (Yari, Akpabio), Bawa (multiple Tinubu-era figures) all fit the pattern. The EFCC's headline conviction rate (over 80 percent of cases that go to trial) is genuine; the structural complaint is selection — who is investigated, who is not, and which prosecutions are pursued to completion. See also Third Term Agenda.