Olukoyede, under whose leadership the EFCC has made unprecedented progress in the fight against economic and financial crimes by recovering over N566 billion alongside other currencies and assets in the last two years will speak on ‘Anti-Corruption Efforts of the EFCC to Boost Ease of Doing Business.’

The theme WES 2025 is ‘Tackling the Issue of Low Productivity in Nigeria’.

According to a statement by the organisers, World Stage Limited, a research and technology driven Africa focused firm, Olukoyede will join other top chief executives which include Dr. Olasupo Olusi, Managing Director/CEO, Bank of Industry (BoI); Mr Segun Ajayi-Kadir, Director-General, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN); Mr. Adewale Smatt-Oyerinde, Director General, Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA) and Dr Abidemi Adegboye, an academia from the University of Lagos that have confirmed participation.

The statement also confirmed that one state governor, one minister and 21 organisations will receive WorldStage Economic Summit Awards For Outstanding Economic Impacts in 2025 at the summit.

WES is conceived to address economic challenges through diagnoses and application of practicable solutions with public and private sector engagement in a research and innovation driven platform to inspire new thinking in business initiative, policy formulation/implementation, economic reform and development.

Top corporate institutions that are supporting the WES 2025 include Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Nigerian Exchange Group Plc (NGX), NLNG, Zenith Bank, Access Bank, Polaris Bank, Fidelity Bank, Sterling Bank, Sahara Group and Ecobank.

Other critical stakeholders for economic productivity expected to take the front seats at the summit include federal, state governments and private bodies responsible for food production, technology transfer, job creation, energy supply, blue economy, banking  and export promotion.

The statement said, the summit will specifically attract those in the manufacturing, oil and gas, housing, agriculture, and water resources, banking, insurance, maritime, ICT, aviation, mining, hospitality & tourism, health care, education, transportation, local and foreign investors, and the media.

Mr Segun Adeleye, President/CEO, World Stage Limited said one of the biggest challenges facing Nigeria’s economy is low productivity.

“Even-though many are working, almost half of Nigerians are estimated to be poor, living below the national poverty line with multidimensional poverty at 63% and income poverty at 40%, just because the right jobs are not available,” he said.

“The question being asked by many is that if Nigeria’s economy is transforming, does the transformation deliver higher productivity jobs to raise living standards?”

He explained that WES 2025 will provide a template to discuss evidence-based policies to generate jobs that can lift people out of poverty; legislative intervention to curb annual economic loss through multiple public holidays; ideas on how to boost earnings in activities that are currently low productivity and small scale activities such as in farm and non-farm household enterprises; a stable macro environment, requiring a continuation of fiscal and exchange rate reforms that will inspire better integrating firms into global value chains and attracting foreign direct investment; further opening of the economy to international trade by removing trade restrictions and improving trade facilitation, as well as ensuring skills are aligned with the economy’s needs; design and implement national skills programs aimed at upskilling young Nigerians, to ensure many more embrace digital skills and capabilities; upgrading infrastructure as key ingredients of an effective policy mix; aggressive integration of mineral resources into national income generation stream to benefit from the opportunities presented by AfCFTA; financing structural transformation with accelerated domestic resource mobilization through reforming tax administration.

WorldStage Economic Summit has always been a hub of opportunity, an unparalleled platform for networking, learning, and adapting.

It is an invaluable experience that brings together public, industry leaders and like-minded professionals.

Speaking during an interview with TVC, EFCC Chairman Ola Olukoyede confirmed that the agency is deep into its probe of the scheme. “We have gone far with CBEX. We have been able to recover a reasonable amount of money,” he stated.

CBEX had lured Nigerians with promises of 100% returns in 30 days, using seminars and well-packaged presentations, including appearances by individuals posing as capital market professionals. 

Behind the scenes, however, foreign operatives were orchestrating a large-scale fraud with the support of local recruits. Many investors watched their account balances vanish after withdrawal restrictions began on 9 April 2025.

Olukoyede revealed that the EFCC has been tracking the flow of funds through complex layers of cryptocurrency wallets. “Even though in the crypto wallet, the same way the money was taken from them, there is no way you will get them in dollars. There is no way you get the dollars in cash without necessarily going through the same process,” he explained.

The fraudsters used non-custodial wallets, unregistered and anonymous, making it difficult to trace the end beneficiaries. “We are still investigating a lot of wallets and the wallets they created are called noncustodian wallets; in other words, no KYC. So, you can’t trace it to anybody,” he said. 

These funds were moved through Europe, with Eastern Europe and Cambodia identified as key destinations. “From the noncustodial wallet, they moved it to some wallets in Europe, Eastern Europe, particularly Cambodia and from there, they dispersed the money. We have been able to block some of these wallets where money has not been dispersed.”

The agency says it has arrested some suspects but is still searching for others who fled. “We are not going to give out too much because we don’t want the process to be truncated,” Olukoyede said. “We are still after quite a number of people that we have declared wanted.”

The scheme’s deceptive structure, the chairman noted, involved foreigners partnering with Nigerians to register clients, organise awareness campaigns, and hold investment seminars. 

“They registered the clients and they used them to create awareness. In fact, they have seminars. We have the tape of their seminars and their conferences. They bring in professionals, people who are specialists in capital markets. Yes, there was the case that they brought a PhD holder, a specialist in capital markets.”

Thousands of Nigerians, believing the platform was credible, invested their savings, only for it to collapse. Many were told to deposit additional funds in order to reactivate their frozen accounts. Victims reported being asked to pay at least $100, or $200 if their balance exceeded $1,000.

However, even after the collapse, CBEX reportedly resumed operations under the radar, reactivating new user registration and offering withdrawals. This was seen by many as a tactic to deflect investigations from legal authorities and attract fresh victims.

The EFCC has warned that the public must stay vigilant. “I even learnt that there are still some of these perpetrators and Nigerians are still falling victim. I believe people should learn from this,” Olukoyede warned.

Investigations continue as the Commission digs deeper into CBEX’s network and monitors blocked wallets for any movement of funds. For now, the fight to reclaim stolen money and hold those responsible to account is still ongoing.