The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has offered whistleblowers between 2.5 percent and five percent of recovered assets for credible information leading to the identification and recovery of Nigerian funds and properties allegedly moved abroad as proceeds of corruption.
Ola Olukoyede, EFCC Chairman, disclosed 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 Dele Oyewale, the commission’s spokesperson, Olukoyede urged individuals with credible information on the whereabouts of Nigerian assets suspected to have been stolen or illicitly transferred to foreign jurisdictions to approach the commission.
He said the financial incentive was designed to encourage whistleblowers to provide actionable intelligence that could assist investigators in tracing, freezing, forfeiting and recovering proceeds of corruption.
“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.
“That is an incentive we have put in place to encourage people to come forward to give information about stolen assets”, Olukoyede said.
The EFCC chairman said the value of the reward could be substantial where the information provided leads to the recovery of high-value assets, noting that some whistleblowers could potentially become multi-millionaires.
“You never know if you give any information here, some of you may leave this place, multi-millionaire in your lifetime,” he said, drawing applause from participants.
Olukoyede also disclosed that the EFCC had, within the first three years of his tenure, secured the recovery and forfeiture of cash and other assets worth more than $500 million to the Federal Government.
“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 and resourcefulness of EFCC investigators, the cooperation of the judiciary and the availability of credible intelligence.
According to him, effective intelligence gathering remains critical to the commission’s ability to identify assets allegedly acquired through corruption, particularly where such assets have been transferred across jurisdictions or concealed through complex ownership structures.
The EFCC chairman also highlighted Nigeria’s non-conviction-based asset forfeiture framework, which he said allows the government to pursue and secure the forfeiture of suspected proceeds of crime without necessarily waiting for a criminal conviction.
Olukoyede said the framework was comparable to mechanisms used in countries such as Australia and Canada.
“We have something similar to what is obtainable in Australia and Canada that empowers us to apply the forfeiture to proceeds of what is suspected to be proceeds of crime,” he said.
He said the mechanism had enabled the commission and the government to secure the forfeiture of various high-value assets allegedly linked to proceeds of crime.
Among the assets he cited were an aircraft, a university, estates and residential properties.
Olukoyede specifically cited the recovery of 752 housing units allegedly linked to former Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Godwin Emefiele, as one of the notable cases involving asset forfeiture.
He also disclosed details of an ongoing investigation involving Abubakar Malami,
the immediate past Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice.
According to Olukoyede, investigators traced 57 properties to Malami during the investigation 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,” he said.
The EFCC chairman’s disclosure comes amid the commission’s renewed emphasis on asset tracing and recovery as a key component of its fight against corruption and economic crimes.
The proposed whistleblower incentive could also strengthen the commission’s efforts to obtain information from individuals who may have knowledge of assets concealed in foreign countries but lack direct access to official investigative channels.
The 43rd International Symposium on Economic Crime in Cambridge brought together anti-corruption specialists, investigators, law enforcement officials, academics and practitioners from different parts of the world to examine emerging challenges in tackling economic and financial crimes.
The EFCC said credible information from members of the public remains important to its efforts to trace and recover assets suspected to have been acquired through corruption.
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