Whistleblowers who provide credible information leading to the recovery of Nigerian assets allegedly hidden abroad could receive between 2.5 and 5 per cent of the value recovered, according to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
The EFCC Chairman, Ola Olukoyede, announced the incentive on Wednesday while delivering a lecture at the 43rd International Symposium on Economic Crime in Cambridge, United Kingdom.
Olukoyede called on individuals with actionable intelligence on monetary and non-monetary assets allegedly stolen from Nigeria and concealed overseas to come forward.
“ That is an incentive we have put in place to encourage people to come forward to give information about stolen assets. You never tell if you give any information here, some of you may leave this place, multi-millionaire in your lifetime,”,he said.
The EFCC chairman also disclosed that the commission had recovered and forfeited cash and assets worth more than 500 million dollars to the Nigerian government since he assumed office less than three years ago. He attributed the recoveries to effective investigations, judicial support and access to credible intelligence.
Olukoyede further highlighted Nigeria’s use of non-conviction-based asset forfeiture, which allows authorities to pursue assets suspected to be proceeds of crime without waiting for a criminal conviction. He cited several major recoveries, including an aircraft, a university, estates and houses allegedly linked to proceeds of crime.
Among the recoveries were 752 housing units linked to former Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Godwin Emefiele, as well as properties allegedly linked to former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami.
Olukoyede said investigations into Malami led to the identification of 57 properties, of which 48 had so far been forfeited.
