The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has offered whistleblowers up to five per cent of recovered assets for credible information that leads to the recovery of funds and properties allegedly moved abroad by corrupt Nigerians.
EFCC Chairman Ola Olukoyede announced the incentive while delivering a lecture at the 43rd International Symposium on Economic Crime in Cambridge, United Kingdom.
According to a statement issued on Wednesday by the EFCC spokesperson, Dele Oyewale, Olukoyede urged individuals with credible information on the whereabouts of Nigerian assets suspected to be proceeds of corruption to approach the commission.
“I welcome all of you to the world of whistleblowing. If any one of you is privy to where Nigerian assets are stolen or taken to anywhere in the world, we have an incentive for you; between 2.5 per cent and 5 per cent, it’s going to go back to you upon recovery,” he said.
Olukoyede said the reward was intended to encourage members of the public to provide actionable intelligence that could assist the EFCC in tracing and recovering assets allegedly acquired through illicit means.
He suggested that successful whistleblowers could receive substantial financial rewards depending on the value of assets recovered from information they provide.
“You never know if you give any information here, some of you may leave this place, multi-millionaire in your lifetime,” he told participants.
The EFCC chairman said the initiative would strengthen the commission’s ability to obtain credible intelligence on assets moved outside Nigeria through alleged corrupt activities.
EFCC reports over $500m in forfeitures
Olukoyede also disclosed that the EFCC had secured the recovery and forfeiture of cash and assets worth more than $500 million to the Federal Government within the first three years of his tenure.
“Within three years of my assumption of office, we’ve been able to forfeit both cash and assets worth over half a billion dollars to the government,” he said.
He attributed the recoveries to the professionalism of EFCC investigators, an active judiciary and access to credible intelligence.
The commission’s chairman also highlighted Nigeria’s non-conviction-based asset forfeiture framework, which allows authorities to pursue the forfeiture of suspected proceeds of crime without necessarily waiting for a criminal conviction.
He said the approach was comparable to systems used in countries including Australia and Canada.
According to Olukoyede, the framework had enabled the government to secure forfeiture orders involving assets such as an aircraft, a university, estates and houses allegedly acquired with proceeds of crime.
He cited the forfeiture of 752 housing units allegedly linked to former Central Bank of Nigeria Governor Godwin Emefiele.
Olukoyede also disclosed details of an ongoing investigation involving former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN).
He said the investigation, which began following what he described as reasonable suspicion of criminal abuse of office, resulted in the tracing of 57 properties allegedly linked to Malami during his eight years in office.
The EFCC chairman said 48 of the 57 properties had so far been forfeited.
“Sometimes last year, I opened investigations upon reasonable suspicion of criminal abuse of office by the immediate past Attorney-General of Nigeria.
“We discovered that within eight years of his being in office, we were able to trace about 57 such properties to him. We’ve been able to forfeit about 48,” he said.
The 43rd International Symposium on Economic Crime, held in Cambridge, brings together anti-corruption specialists, investigators and practitioners from around the world.
Olukoyede’s presentation was delivered on the third day of the week-long symposium.
