The Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede, has urged whistleblowers across the world to provide actionable intelligence on Nigerian assets allegedly stashed abroad, promising financial rewards for information that leads to successful recovery.
Olukoyede made the call on Wednesday, August 26, 2026, while delivering a lecture at the 43rd International Symposium on Economic Crime in Cambridge, United Kingdom.
The EFCC chairman said individuals with credible information about monetary or non-monetary assets allegedly taken out of Nigeria could approach the Commission and assist ongoing efforts to recover such proceeds.
According to him, whistleblowers whose information results in the recovery of stolen assets could receive between 2.5 per cent and five per cent of the recovered value as an incentive.
“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% and 5%, it’s going to go back to you upon recovery,” Olukoyede said.
He encouraged participants at the symposium to come forward with useful information, adding that successful whistleblowers could potentially receive substantial financial rewards.
“You never tell if you give any information here, some of you may leave this place, multi-millionaire in your lifetime,” he added.
Olukoyede also highlighted the EFCC’s asset recovery efforts since he assumed office, saying the agency had secured the forfeiture of cash and assets worth more than $500 million to the Nigerian government within 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.
He attributed the recoveries to the professionalism of EFCC investigators, judicial support and access to credible intelligence.
The anti-graft agency’s chairman also explained Nigeria’s non-conviction-based asset forfeiture framework, comparing it with similar mechanisms used in countries such as Australia and Canada.
He said the framework allows the EFCC to seek the forfeiture of assets suspected to be proceeds of crime without necessarily waiting for a criminal conviction.
Olukoyede said the approach had enabled the government to secure the forfeiture of various assets, including an aircraft, a university, estates and residential properties allegedly linked to proceeds of crime.
He specifically cited the recovery of 752 housing units from former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor, Godwin Emefiele.
He also spoke about an investigation involving former Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN, claiming that investigators traced 57 properties to him during his eight years in office and had so far secured the forfeiture of 48.
“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 43rd International Symposium on Economic Crime is an annual gathering of anti-corruption and economic crime experts from around the world.
Olukoyede’s presentation was delivered on the third day of the week-long symposium in Cambridge.
