The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ola Olukoyede, has offered whistleblowers between 2.5 per cent and five per cent of recovered stolen Nigerian assets for information leading to their recovery from abroad.
Olukoyede disclosed this on Wednesday while delivering a lecture at the Cambridge International Symposium on Economic Crime in the United Kingdom.
The EFCC chairman said the ability of investigators to trace assets, judicial cooperation and access to credible intelligence were significant factors contributing to the commission’s success in securing non-conviction-based forfeiture orders.
He also described the EFCC as having some of the best investigators in the world, while stressing the importance of protecting and incentivising whistleblowers.
“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 said.
The EFCC boss further disclosed that the commission had forfeited cash and assets worth more than $500 million to the Nigerian Government within 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 in which the commission had recorded successes, including forfeiture proceedings involving a former Chairman of the Central Bank of Nigeria and an ex-Attorney-General of the Federation.
He explained that the EFCC was constitutionally empowered to seek the forfeiture of suspected proceeds of crime by first obtaining an order from the High Court.
According to him, the procedure is similar to what operates in Australia and Canada.
“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,” Olukoyede explained.
The EFCC chairman recalled an instance in which the commission forfeited an aircraft belonging to an unnamed individual allegedly involved in a $30 million bribe.
He said the individual was supposed to be a member of the monetary committee of a power project in Nigeria, but the EFCC discovered that he had allegedly received the bribe.
“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.
Olukoyede also cited the forfeiture of a property allegedly belonging to a former CBN governor.
“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,” he said.
He further referred to investigations involving former Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami.
Olukoyede said the commission opened an investigation following what he described as reasonable suspicion of criminal abuse of office involving Malami.
He said the EFCC traced about 57 properties to the former AGF during his eight years in office and had so far forfeited about 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.
According to the report, Olukoyede also cited the forfeiture of a private university allegedly linked to a director in the Federal Ministry of Health.
He said the official voluntarily surrendered the property following the commission’s investigation.