The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA), on Thursday, January 15, 2026, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) centered on inter-agency collaboration.
At the signing of the document at EFCC’s corporate headquarters in Jabi, Abuja, EFCC Chairman, Ola Olukoyede, disclosed that the event was an attestation to the power of collaboration among government agencies, adding that such rapprochement would make the accomplishment of mandate easier for government agencies.
He further observed that the MOU set out the responsibilities and duties of each agency in the spirit of collaboration and working together, adding that a special monitoring and implementation team would be raised for the implementation of the MOU.
According to him, the EFCC would put a team together that would monitor the operationalisation of the MoU and also review the effectiveness of the platform from time to time.
He also proposed that the perfect working of the synergy between the two Agencies will encourage other government ministries, departments, and agencies to find a way of collaborating and working together in the spirit of achieving their mandates and ensuring that the country is taken to the next level.
On the specifics, Olukoyede disclosed that NASRDA will provide additional technology that will support EFCC’s investigative capability and asset tracking, while the Commission will deploy expertise that would leverage the Agency’s fraud risk assessment.
He stated, “We will support you in the area of your fraud risk assessment, and you will support us in promoting our investigative capacity by helping us to ensure that where our eyes cannot get to, with the aid of your technology, we will be able to get there. You are very aware that we are involved in the investigation and prosecution of illegal mining activities. With the aid of the technology you are going to support us with, we will be able to identify some of these areas.”
He expressed optimism that the collaboration will offer the EFCC leverage on the platform that will help it to manage its assets in the most transparent and accountable manner.
According to him, one of the hallmarks of the work of the EFCC is recovery of assets scattered all over Nigeria.
“Some, under interim forfeiture, some others under final forfeiture. In some of these places, we may not have enough men that will move around and secure some of these assets. But with your support, we will be able to deploy the use of geospatial technology and asset tagging devices to monitor”, he said.
In his remarks, NASRDA’s Director General/Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Matthew Adepoju, expressed delight at the opportunity of the inter-agency collaboration that would be enhanced by the MoU.
He stressed that the MOU would serve as a watermark in the pursuit of justice and ensuring that both national and international organizations that are doing business in the space ecosystem comply with and respect the laws of the land.
“You cannot go anywhere in Europe or in Continental America or the Far East and be doing business in the space ecosystem without the country making sure you are doing the right thing. This is a fact that we know some satellite assets are being used negatively in driving insecurity in the country,” he said.
Speaking further, he regretted that Some of our natural resources are mapped to the satellite platform, and they are supplying information to local bad guys.
“We know that one of the drivers of insecurity in the country is illegal mining activities in our country. That’s why it’s expedient for us to make sure that everybody who operates from the three realms of the space sector, from the upstream, mainstream, and downstream, is regulated and complies,” he concluded.
