The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has promised to reward whistleblowers with as much as 5% on genuine information that will lead to the recovery of Nigerian funds purportedly stashed overseas.
The admission was made today, Wednesday, August 26, 2026, by EFCC Chairman, Ola Olukoyede, during a lecture at the 43rd International Symposium on Economic Crime in Cambridge, United Kingdom, as reported by The Guardian.
The aim, Olukoyede said, was to encourage the recovery of illicitly acquired assets, and invited those with actionable intelligence on monetary and non-monetary assets purportedly stolen from Nigeria and stashed in foreign countries to come forward.
“I invite you all into the world of whistleblowing. If any one of you is privy to where Nigerian assets are stolen or taken to anyplace in the world, we have an incentive for you, between 2.5 and 5%, it’s going to go back to you upon recovery. This is a good incentive we have introduced to encourage people to come out with information on stolen assets. You never know if you share any information here, some of you may leave this location, multi billionaire in your life time” he said.
The EFCC boss said he had recovered and forfeited cash and properties worth over $500 million to the Nigerian government since he assumed office less than three years ago.
He said that the recoveries were the outcome of effective investigations, judicial assistance and access to solid intelligence.
Olukoyede also referred to Nigeria’s use of non-conviction-based asset forfeiture which allows police to go for assets considered to be proceeds of crime without waiting for a criminal conviction.
He listed a number of notable recoveries including an aircraft, university, estates and houses reportedly linked to proceeds of crime.
They include 752 housing units recovered from the former CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, properties traced to the former Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami.
Olukoyede said investigations on Malami led to the identification of 57 properties, of which 48 had so far been forfeited.
The Cambridge symposium is a yearly event that attracts economic crime and anti-corruption professionals from all around the world and Olukoyede gave his presentation on the third day of the weeklong event.
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