Alex Enumah in Abuja The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr Ola Olukoyede, has disclosed that the commission in the last three years secured the forfeiture
Alex Enumah in Abuja
The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr Ola Olukoyede, has disclosed that the commission in the last three years secured the forfeiture of both cash and assets worth more than $500 million to the Federal Government of Nigeria.
Olukoyede made the disclosure yesterday while delivering a lecture at the Cambridge International Symposium on Economic Crime, in the United Kingdom.
The forfeitures which were made under his leadership of the anti-graft agency, according to him, were possible due to Nigeria’s legal framework empowering the agency to seek the forfeiture of assets suspected to be proceeds of crime without waiting for a criminal conviction.
He said: “Within three years of my assumption in office we have been able to forfeit (secure forfeiture of) both cash and assets worth over half a billion dollars to the government”.
Olukoyede observed that the legal framework is similar to what obtains in countries such as Australia and Canada, with a formal forfeiture application.
“We have similar to what is obtainable in Australia and Canada that empowers us to apply for forfeiture for proceeds of what is suspected to be proceeds of crime”, he said.
According to the EFCC boss, upon the suspicion that a particular asset could have emanated from proceeds of crime, an application is made to the high court for the forfeiture of the said assets.
Olukoyede listed an aircraft, property and cash among recently forfeited assets to the federal government, adding that the forfeitures were made against public officials.
According to him, the forfeited aircraft was linked to a member of a monitoring committee for a power project in Nigeria, adding that the individual was found to have allegedly collected a $30 million bribe.
“This aircraft was forfeited by someone who was supposed to be a member of the monitoring committee of a power project in Nigeria. We discovered he collected a bribe of about $30 million in Nigeria,” he said.
The EFCC boss who stated that the recovery was made about three months ago, disclosed that the said aircraft has been added to the presidential air fleet at the moment.
While observing that agency secured the forfeiture within two months of applying to the court, Olukoyede referenced the forfeiture of a property containing about 753 housing units, this time involving a former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
“That property contains about 753 housing units we forfeited from an erstwhile governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria. We have criminal charges against him [in] about three courts,” Olukoyede said.
Similarly, the chairman disclosed that the commission had also within the same period secured the forfeiture of another set of 48 properties out of 57 allegedly linked to the immediate past Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr Abubakar Malami (SAN) following an investigation into suspected abuse of office.
According to him, the investigation was opened last year based on what he described as reasonable suspicion of criminal abuse of office.
“Sometime 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 have been able to forfeit about 48,” he pointed out.
Olukoyede in addition mentioned the forfeiture of a private university allegedly linked to a director in the Federal Ministry of Health, stating that in the instant case, the official voluntarily surrendered the property following an investigation by the commission.
Olukoyede attributed the commission’s success in securing non-conviction-based forfeiture orders to the ability of investigators to trace assets, cooperation from the judiciary and access to credible intelligence, adding that, “We also have some of the best investigators around the world”.
Besides, he observed that a proactive judiciary was essential to the effective implementation of non-conviction-based forfeiture, just as a credible intelligence remained a critical component of the process.
He also disclosed that many of the EFCC’s investigators had received training at leading institutions around the world, thereby strengthening their capacity to track and recover assets linked to financial crimes.
The chairman however called for stronger protection and incentives for whistleblowers, particularly those who provide information leading to the recovery of Nigerian assets taken abroad.
“The citizens must be encouraged with your whistleblower protection,” he said. “If any of you is privy to where Nigerian assets are stolen or taken anywhere in the world, we have an incentive for you. Between 2.5 and 5 percent is going to go back to you upon recovery.”
Olukoyede added that whistleblowers whose information leads to successful recovery of stolen Nigerian assets could receive significant financial rewards under the commission’s incentive arrangement.
