EFCC Chairman, Ola Olukoyede, disclosed the incentive while speaking at the 43rd International Symposium on Economic Crime in Cambridge, United Kingdom.
Olukoyede urged individuals with credible information about Nigerian assets suspected to be proceeds of corruption anywhere in the world to come forward, assuring them that successful whistleblowers would receive a percentage of the value of assets recovered through their information.
According to him, the reward scheme was introduced to encourage people to provide intelligence that could assist the commission in tracing and recovering stolen assets.
“You never know if you give any information here, some of you may leave this place a multi-millionaire in your lifetime,” Olukoyede told participants.
He said the initiative would strengthen the EFCC’s access to intelligence and help authorities track assets allegedly moved out of Nigeria through illicit means.
The EFCC chairman also revealed that the commission had secured the forfeiture of more than $500 million in cash and assets to the Federal Government during his first three years in office.
Olukoyede attributed the recoveries to the professionalism of EFCC investigators, support from the judiciary and the availability of credible intelligence.
He further highlighted Nigeria’s non-conviction-based asset forfeiture framework, which allows authorities to pursue suspected proceeds of crime without necessarily waiting for a criminal conviction.
According to him, the system has enabled the government to pursue the forfeiture of several assets, including an aircraft, a university, estates and houses allegedly acquired with proceeds of crime.
Olukoyede also referred to the recovery of 752 housing units linked to former Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Godwin Emefiele.
Speaking on the investigation involving former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, the EFCC chairman said investigators traced 57 properties to him and had secured the forfeiture of 48 of them.
He said the investigation was opened following what he described as a reasonable suspicion of criminal abuse of office.
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