The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has announced a financial incentive for individuals who provide credible information that leads to the recovery of Nigerian assets allegedly stolen and moved abroad.
The EFCC Chairman, Ola Olukoyede, disclosed this on Wednesday, August 26, 2026, while speaking at the 43rd International Symposium on Economic Crime in Cambridge, United Kingdom.
Olukoyede encouraged individuals with reliable information about monetary or non-monetary assets allegedly taken out of Nigeria to come forward and assist the commission in tracing and recovering such assets.
According to him, whistleblowers whose information results in the successful recovery of stolen Nigerian assets could receive between 2.5 per cent and 5 per cent of the recovered value as a reward.
He explained that the incentive was introduced to encourage more people to provide useful information that could assist the government in recovering assets linked to corruption and other financial crimes.
The EFCC chairman also disclosed that the commission had secured the forfeiture of cash and other assets valued at more than $500 million to the Nigerian government within the three years since he assumed office.
He attributed the commission’s asset recovery efforts to the effectiveness of its investigators, cooperation from the judiciary and access to credible intelligence.
Olukoyede further explained Nigeria’s use of non-conviction-based asset forfeiture, a legal mechanism that enables authorities to pursue assets suspected to be proceeds of crime without having to wait for a criminal conviction.
He said the approach is comparable to frameworks used in countries such as Australia and Canada.
The EFCC chairman highlighted several major asset recovery cases, including the forfeiture of an aircraft, a private university and several estates and residential properties allegedly connected to proceeds of crime.
He also referred to the recovery of hundreds of housing units linked to former Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Godwin Emefiele.
Olukoyede disclosed that an investigation involving former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, resulted in the identification of 57 properties allegedly linked to him, with 48 of those properties so far forfeited.
The EFCC boss stressed the importance of credible intelligence in tracing assets, particularly those moved across international borders, and called for continued cooperation from members of the public.
The Cambridge symposium, now in its 43rd edition, brings together experts and professionals involved in the fight against economic crime and corruption from different parts of the world.
