President Tinubu appoints EFCC prosecutor Oyedepo as Director of Public Prosecutions.

According to the Presidency, Oyedepo was a key member of the Federal Government’s legal team in the landmark Process and Industrial Developments Limited (P&ID) case against the Federal Republic of Nigeria, which culminated in a decisive victory for Nigeria in October 2023 at the London High Court.

In a judgment delivered on October 23, 2023, Justice Robin Knowles set aside an arbitral award of over $11 billion that P&ID had secured against Nigeria. The court found that the award was obtained through fraud, bribery, perjury, and serious abuse of the arbitral process. The original award, valued at $6.6 billion in January 2017, had risen to more than $11 billion due to accumulated interest, representing nearly one-third of Nigeria’s annual budget at the time.

Justice Knowles held that P&ID and its legal representatives engaged in grave misconduct, including bribing Nigerian officials, presenting false evidence, and improperly obtaining and retaining confidential government documents. He concluded that the arbitration process was fundamentally flawed and failed to uncover the truth. The court also criticised the handling of privileged materials by P&ID’s lawyers, describing their conduct as indefensible.
Nigeria’s legal team, which included Oyedepo, successfully argued that enforcing the award would be contrary to public policy. The court accepted this position, refused enforcement, and ultimately nullified the entire award. The administration described the outcome as a major relief, sparing Nigeria from a financial burden that could have severely undermined government spending on education, healthcare, and infrastructure.

Prior to his appointment, Oyedepo spent over 15 years at the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, where he specialised in prosecuting complex economic and financial crimes. He also served as Head of the Monitoring Unit, earning a reputation as one of the country’s most effective financial crimes prosecutors. His service was recognised with several honours, including Outstanding Staff of the Year in 2014 and Best Financial Crimes Prosecutor in 2019.
He has handled several high-profile cases involving senior public officials and corporate executives accused of corruption and economic sabotage. Oyedepo is a law graduate of the University of Ilorin, was called to the Nigerian Bar in 2008, and was conferred with the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria in 2022.

The Presidency stated that he is expected to apply his expertise to strengthen federal prosecutions, reduce dependence on external legal counsel, and promote consistency in the government’s legal strategies.

The Director of Public Prosecutions is the chief officer responsible for federal criminal prosecutions, operating under the supervision of the Attorney-General of the Federation. The role includes overseeing all criminal prosecutions initiated by the Federal Government, providing legal advice on such matters, representing the government in criminal appeals, coordinating with state prosecution authorities on interstate cases, and advising on international criminal cooperation.