The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) says it has recovered cash and assets worth more than $500 million for the Nigerian government over the past three years, as the agency steps up its asset recovery efforts.
EFCC Chairman Ola Olukoyede disclosed the figure while speaking at the 43rd Cambridge International Symposium on Economic Crime at Jesus College, University of Cambridge, in the United Kingdom.
Olukoyede said the commission had secured the forfeiture of both cash and properties suspected to be linked to proceeds of crime since he assumed office. He also highlighted an aircraft forfeited by a member of a monetary committee involved in a power project, which he said was linked to a $30 million bribe and has since been added to the presidential air fleet.
The EFCC chairman also announced plans to challenge a Federal High Court decision involving nine properties linked to former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami. Olukoyede said investigators had traced 57 properties to the former minister and had secured final forfeiture orders over 48 of them.
He said the commission was considering an appeal over the remaining nine properties located in Kebbi and Kaduna states, signalling its intention to continue pursuing the assets through the courts.
The development follows a Federal High Court ruling that ordered the final forfeiture of 48 properties linked to Malami after the assets had earlier been placed under an interim forfeiture order. The EFCC maintains that its investigations were based on reasonable suspicion of criminal abuse of office.
Olukoyede also called for stronger public participation in the recovery of stolen Nigerian assets, particularly those allegedly moved abroad. He said the EFCC would reward whistleblowers whose credible information directly leads to the recovery of such assets, with payments ranging from 2.5 per cent to five per cent of the recovered assets.
The EFCC chairman said Nigeria’s legal framework allows the commission to pursue forfeiture of assets suspected to be proceeds of crime without necessarily waiting for a criminal conviction. He noted that similar approaches exist in countries including Australia and Canada.
