By Peace Udugba
The Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede, has called on whistleblowers across the world to provide credible and actionable intelligence on monetary and non-monetary assets allegedly stolen by Nigerians and hidden abroad.
Olukoyede made the call on Wednesday, August 26, 2026, while delivering a lecture at the Cambridge International Symposium on Economic Crime in the United Kingdom.
He said anyone with credible information on the location of Nigerian assets taken or stashed abroad could come forward to assist the country in recovering them, adding that whistleblowers would be rewarded financially for useful information that leads to asset recovery.
“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.
“That is an incentive we have put in place to encourage people to come forward to give information about stolen assets. You never tell if you give any information here, some of you may leave this place, multi-millionaire in your lifetime,” he added.
The EFCC chairman, who received applause from participants, said the Commission had recovered cash and assets worth more than $500 million for the Nigerian government since he assumed office less than three years ago.
“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 attributed the recoveries to the resourcefulness and professionalism of EFCC investigators, a robust judiciary and access to credible intelligence.
He also highlighted Nigeria’s non-conviction-based asset forfeiture framework, which he said was similar to mechanisms used in countries such as Australia and Canada.
According to him, the framework allows the Commission to seek the forfeiture of assets suspected to be proceeds of crime without necessarily waiting for a criminal conviction.
“We have similar to what is obtainable in Australia and Canada that empowers us to apply the forfeiture to proceeds of what is suspected to be proceeds of crime,” he said.
Olukoyede said the approach had enabled the government to forfeit assets including an aircraft, a university, estates and houses allegedly linked to proceeds of crime.
He specifically mentioned 752 housing units recovered from former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Godwin Emefiele, as well as investigations involving former Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN.
According to Olukoyede, investigations into Malami led to the forfeiture of 48 out of 57 properties allegedly linked to him.
“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 in Cambridge is an annual gathering of anti-corruption experts and professionals from around the world.
Olukoyede’s presentation was delivered on the third day of the week-long event.
