President Bola Tinubu has appointed Rotimi Oyedepo, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, as the new Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) in the Federal Ministry of Justice.
Oyedepo’s transfer of service from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to the federal civil service was confirmed in a letter dated December 23 and signed by Omolabake Mafe on behalf of the chairman of the Federal Civil Service Commission.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, the State House Director of Information and Public Relations, Abiodun Oladunjoye, said the appointment was made in the public interest.
Oyedepo succeeds Abubakar Babadoko, who is scheduled to retire on December 31, 2025, after completing the mandatory eight-year tenure as a director.
“Mr Oyedepo, as DPP, will fill the vacancy occasioned by the retirement of Mr Abubakar Babadoko, who will attain the mandatory eight years as a director on December 31, 2025,” the statement said.
It added: “Mr Oyedepo is a 2007 law graduate of the University of Ilorin and was called to the Bar in 2008. He is expected to deploy his expertise to reduce reliance on external counsel for critical prosecutions and ensure greater coherence and consistency in the Federal Government’s legal strategies.”
According to the statement, Oyedepo has over 15 years of experience prosecuting complex economic and financial crimes at the EFCC, where he previously headed the commission’s monitoring unit.
He was also a member of the legal team that represented the Federal Government in the high-profile P&ID arbitration case.
Oyedepo has received several professional recognitions, including the EFCC’s Outstanding Staff of the Year award in 2014 and Best Financial Crimes Prosecutor in 2019.