The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has been accused of cheating and irregularities by protesting bidders who participated in a recent car auction.

The auction exercise commenced on Monday, January 20, 2025. During this time, interested parties were allowed to inspect the vehicles at dedicated locations nationwide before the bidding day on January 27, 2025.

After the exercise concluded on Monday, bidders expressed outrage on various social media platforms, sharing screenshots proving they had been cheated out of the process.

The aggrieved citizens alleged that their winnings had disappeared from the auction sites, and they could no longer access their accounts on those platforms.

At the same time, others complained about supposed chicanery executed through outrageous amounts as bids designed to force many prospects from backing out on some deals.

The screenshots showed that the biddings for mid-range and averagely sophisticated Lexus jeeps and SUVs ranged from N1 billion to N330 billion.

Sharing his frustrations on X, a user identified as Daniel Momoh said, “Dear @officialEFCC, it is a pity that you and your auctioneers cheated us out of a legitimate process we engaged in yesterday where I won four different vehicles, namely: Toyota Venza – 2,670,000; Lexus ES350 – 2,000,000; Lexus IS250 – 2,520,000 and Toyota – Camry – 1,500,000.

“I woke up this morning to see that my name has been replaced with another name, which blocked me from accessing the website via the account I opened before the bidding.”

Similarly, another X user said, “I’ve just seen magic happen right before my eyes. A C300 with lot number ADC/BEN/AU/98 that I bid on and won at N5,570,001 just vanished from the auction site. EFCC, una well done.”

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In the same vein, Baron El’Sama alleged, “The auction you conducted yesterday was a sham! In a bid to rig the system, the incompetent auctioneers you engaged allowed a bid of N350,000,000,000 for a Lexus RX 350 Jeep. It’s not a glitch. It’s a deliberate attempt to gate-keep others from bidding."

“EFCC, the website for the official auction for the cars, suddenly brought out error 502 about 43 minutes to the end of the auction!! We hope it is not intentional to select your preferred bidders. I have been bidding since 11 am. Kindly respond," a user, who identified as @Kennylekel, wrote.

Aromeh Joshua, who expressed his frustrations on Facebook, wrote, “EFCC auction: Checked two of the Lagos Auctioneers, and their website is (Resource Limit is Reached) temporarily unavailable. A few were hurriedly put together."

“Dear @officialEFCC, I am reporting alleged fraudulent activity earlier today during the motor vehicle auction that raises serious concerns about fairness and integrity. It appears that the highest bidder and a “short bidder” colluded to manipulate the auction.

“The highest bidder placed excessively high bids to inflate the price, knowing they would not pay. Under the auction terms, this allowed the short bidder, who had the second-highest bid, to win at an inflated price. This tactic disadvantaged legitimate bidders and exploited the rules, undermining the auction’s fairness. I urge an immediate investigation into this matter,” Hafiz Bawa vented on X.

“I have seen seven people come out here to accuse the @officialEFCC of committing fraud through this auction. I have yet to see anyone come out to say they actually got the car they bid for. And yet, the institution isn’t addressing the crime that has been carried out. We need to do better,” one user who identifies as Tchalla Kingsman noted.

“Those that are alleging non-transparency are just being economical with the truth. The auction process was electronic and open bidding. There is no way of any extraneous influence or intervention. The allegation is unfounded, it can neither be supported by fact nor logic. Everybody that participated gave a remark that they were able to get; some even said they were outbid.”

EFCC denies wrongdoings

Responding to the slew of allegations, the EFCC tackled the protesting bidders and challenged them to provide proof of compromise.

The commission further distanced itself from the exercise, explaining that government-licensed auctioneers handled the auction process.

“It is between the auctioneers and the bidding public; it has nothing to do with us. We did not interfere in any of the processes at all,” the agency's spokesperson, Dele Oyewale, said in a phone conversation.

However, he admitted that some people could have bid outrageous money to frustrate the process, stressing that this might have been deliberate sabotage.

The EFCC listed over 850 vehicles forfeited to the Federal Government for the auction.

The anti-graft agency recovered the forfeitures, which ranged from luxury vehicles to mid-range Toyota Camry, during investigations into various financial crimes, including corruption, money laundering, and cybercrime.