`The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Olanipekun Olukayode, has warned religious leaders against transferring tithes, offerings, zakat and other institutional funds into their private businesses. He described such conduct as a criminal act.
Olukayode said religious organisations must maintain a clear financial boundary between money entrusted to them by worshippers and income belonging to their leaders.
He gave the warning on Wednesday at the 2026 Second Council Meeting of the Nigeria Inter-Religious Council, NIREC, held under the theme, “Shared Sacred Flourishing in Nigeria”.
The EFCC chairman said religious leaders who operate legitimate businesses were free to pursue those ventures, but must not combine their personal finances with funds belonging to the organisations they lead.
“You are not supposed to mingle it. There’s nothing that says you can’t do another vocation. You sell cars, you have a farm and all of that,” Olukayode said.
He added: “Don’t mix the money from the purse of your organisation with that of your own personal money. Don’t do that. When money is paid to your organisation, don’t divert it to your business.
“That is criminal.”
Olukayode said churches and mosques were registered as not-for-profit organisations, meaning money collected in their names should be kept in designated accounts and applied to purposes connected with their institutional mandate.
His warning places financial governance at the centre of the responsibility of religious institutions, particularly where large sums are collected from members under religious obligations or voluntary contributions.
He called on religious organisations to establish internal compliance systems that clearly identify which funds belong to the institution and which belong to individual leaders.
“Go and develop regulatory compliance templates for your religious organisation so that you know where you don’t have to cross the line. You know where the boundary is drawn. You know the money that belongs to you and the money that does not belong to you,” he said.
The EFCC chairman also recounted investigations involving agencies responsible for religious pilgrimages, saying the commission had uncovered serious financial irregularities during previous investigations of Christian and Muslim pilgrimage boards.
Olukoyede, who previously served in senior positions at the EFCC, including as Chief of Staff and Secretary, said some of the findings were “mind-boggling”.
He alleged that investigators discovered a case in which almost 75 per cent of government funds released to sponsor pilgrims in one location had been stolen by officials of the organisations involved.
“Some of the discoveries we made were mind-boggling,” he said.
The claim was presented by Olukayode as an example of the financial risks that can arise when institutions handling public or communal resources lack effective controls.
Besides, the EFCC chairman placed religious bodies at the centre of Nigeria’s effort to prevent corruption.
He said the commission could investigate financial misconduct and prosecute offenders, but religious communities had a different role in shaping the values that influence individual conduct.
“The EFCC can investigate a person’s conduct. Faith communities can influence that person’s character.
“We can prosecute fraud. Religious teachings can cultivate honesty. We can confiscate illicit wealth.
“Churches and mosques can challenge the values that make society worship wealth without questioning its source,” he said.
Olukayode said the influence of religious institutions extended beyond places of worship because their teachings could shape how followers view honesty, wealth and public responsibility.
He therefore called on religious leaders to demonstrate the standards of accountability they expect from their congregations.
The EFCC chairman said preventing financial misconduct before it occurs was as significant as prosecuting those who eventually violate the law.
“It is important to state here that one of the most consequential contributions religious leaders can make to shared sacred flourishing is to restore the moral dignity of honest living,” he said.
The commission has increasingly emphasised compliance and financial controls across sectors vulnerable to money laundering and other financial crimes.
Its Special Control Unit Against Money Laundering, SCUML, is mandated to monitor and regulate designated non-financial businesses and professions under Nigeria’s anti-money laundering framework.
Olukayode’s latest intervention extends that emphasis into the administration of religious institutions, where the distinction between institutional resources and personal wealth can have significant implications for accountability.
The message from the EFCC chairman was therefore straightforward: religious leaders may conduct private businesses, but money contributed to a church, mosque or other faith organisation must not become a source of private business capital.
READ RELATED NEWS UPDATES
