EFCC offers reward to whistleblowers for information on stolen assets abroad
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has offered financial rewards to whistleblowers who provide actionable information that leads to the recovery of monetary and non-monetary assets allegedly stolen by Nigerians and hidden abroad.
The Executive Chairman of the EFCC, Ola Olukoyede, made this known on Wednesday while delivering a lecture at the 43rd International Symposium on Economic Crime in Cambridge, United Kingdom.
He disclosed that individuals with information on the location of stolen Nigerian assets could approach the commission and receive between 2.5 per cent and five per cent of the value of assets recovered through their information. “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 five per cent, it’s going to go back to you upon recovery,” he said.
He added that the incentive was designed to encourage people with useful information to come forward and assist the government in recovering assets taken out of the country through corrupt practices.
Olukoyede also disclosed that the EFCC had recovered cash and assets worth more than $500 million for the Nigerian government within three years of his assumption of office.
He attributed the recoveries to the professionalism of EFCC investigators, judicial support and access to credible intelligence. He also explained that Nigeria’s non-conviction-based asset forfeiture framework allows the commission to seek the forfeiture of assets suspected to be proceeds of crime without waiting for a criminal conviction.
The EFCC chairman cited the recovery of 752 housing units linked to former Central Bank of Nigeria Governor Godwin Emefiele and the forfeiture of 48 of 57 properties allegedly traced to former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, as examples of the application of the framework.
The Cambridge symposium, which brings together anti-corruption experts from around the world, is a weeklong annual event, with Olukoyede’s presentation taking place on its third day.
