President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Nigeria’s current Head of State and Government, has approved the appointment of Mr Rotimi Iseoluwa Oyedepo, Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), as the new Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) in the Federal Ministry of Justice, following his transfer of service from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Okay News reports that the appointment was conveyed in an official letter dated Tuesday, 23 December 2025, signed by Mrs Omolabake Mafe on behalf of the Chairman of the Federal Civil Service Commission. The letter stated that the decision to appoint Oyedepo was made “in the public interest.”
According to the release, Oyedepo’s appointment fills an impending vacancy created by the retirement of the outgoing Director of Public Prosecutions, Mr Abubakar Babadoko. Babadoko is scheduled to complete the mandatory eight-year tenure for directors in the Federal Civil Service on Wednesday, 31 December 2025.
The Director of Public Prosecutions is a key office within Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Justice, which is responsible for overseeing federal criminal prosecutions and shaping the legal strategies of the Federal Government. Oyedepo is expected to bring continuity and renewed capacity to the office at a time of heightened focus on accountability and rule of law.
Mr Oyedepo is a law graduate of the University of Ilorin, a federal public university in Kwara State, North-Central Nigeria, where he obtained his law degree in 2007. He proceeded to the Nigerian Law School in 2008 and was later conferred with the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria, the country’s highest professional legal title.
The presidency noted that his appointment is aimed at strengthening in-house prosecutorial capacity within government. He is expected to “reduce reliance on external counsel for critical prosecutions and ensure greater coherence and consistency in the Federal Government’s legal strategies,” the statement said.
Before his appointment, Oyedepo spent more than 15 years at the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Nigeria’s leading anti-graft agency responsible for investigating and prosecuting economic and financial crimes. During his time at the EFCC, he specialised in complex financial crime prosecutions and also served as Head of the Monitoring Unit.
He was also part of the Federal Government’s legal team in the high-profile arbitration dispute between Process and Industrial Developments Limited (P&ID), a British Virgin Islands-registered company, and the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The case, widely regarded as one of Nigeria’s most significant international legal battles, involved a multi-billion-dollar arbitral award against the country, which Nigeria later successfully challenged.
Oyedepo’s professional achievements have earned him several recognitions, including being named EFCC Outstanding Staff of the Year in 2014 and Best Financial Crimes Prosecutor in 2019.
The press release announcing the appointment was signed by Mr Abiodun Oladunjoye, Director of Information and Public Relations at the State House, and dated Tuesday, 30 December 2025.
