The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Ola Olukoyede, says whistleblowers who provide information leading to the recovery of stolen Nigerian assets held abroad may receive between 2.5% and 5% of the recovered assets.
Olukoyede disclosed this on Wednesday while delivering a lecture at the Cambridge International Symposium on Economic Crime in the United Kingdom, where he highlighted the importance of whistleblower protection, credible intelligence and international cooperation in tracing and recovering proceeds of crime.
The EFCC chairman said the commission’s ability to trace assets, cooperation from the judiciary and access to credible intelligence had contributed significantly to its success in securing non-conviction-based forfeiture orders.
“The citizens must be encouraged with your whistleblower protection. If any of you is privy to where a Nigerian asset is stolen or taken to anywhere in the world, we have an incentive for you.
Between 2.5 and 5 per cent is going to go back to you upon recovery,” Olukoyede told participants from various countries.
The EFCC boss further disclosed that the commission had secured the forfeiture of cash and assets worth more than $500 million to the Federal Government in the past three years.
“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.
Olukoyede cited several cases as examples of the commission’s recent successes, including forfeiture proceedings involving a former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria and former Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami.
He explained that the EFCC is constitutionally empowered to seek the forfeiture of suspected proceeds of crime by obtaining an order from the High Court.
According to him, the procedure is similar to provisions in Australia and Canada, where authorities can apply for the forfeiture of assets suspected to be proceeds of crime.
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“We have something similar to what is obtainable in Australia and Canada that empowers us to apply for the forfeiture of proceeds of what is suspected to be proceeds of crime. You apply ex parte to the High Court upon a probable suspicion of the proceeds of crime,” he said.
Olukoyede also recalled a case in which the commission forfeited an aircraft belonging to an unnamed individual allegedly involved in a $30 million bribery case.
“This aircraft was forfeited by someone who was supposed to be a member of the monetary committee of a power project in Nigeria. We discovered he collected a bribe of about $30 million in Nigeria.
“He forfeited that about three months ago, and it has been added to the presidential air fleet at the moment,” he said.
The EFCC chairman also cited the forfeiture of a property linked to a former CBN governor, which he said comprised about 753 housing units.
“That property contains about 753 housing units we forfeited from a former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria. We have criminal charges against him in about three courts,” he said.
On the case involving Malami, Olukoyede said the EFCC opened an investigation last year following allegations of criminal abuse of office.
He said the commission traced about 57 properties to the former attorney-general during his eight years in office and had so far secured the forfeiture of 48 of them.
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, Olukoyede said.
The EFCC chairman also disclosed that the commission had secured the forfeiture of a private university allegedly linked to a director in the Federal Ministry of Health. He said the official later voluntarily surrendered the property following the commission’s investigation.
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