The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has announced a reward of up to 5% for whistleblowers who provide reliable information that helps recover stolen Nigerian assets hidden overseas.
EFCC Chairman Ola Olukoyede revealed the incentive on Wednesday, August 26, 2026, during his lecture at the 43rd International Symposium on Economic Crime in Cambridge, United Kingdom.
Olukoyede urged individuals with actionable intelligence on monetary and non-monetary assets allegedly stolen from Nigeria and hidden in foreign countries to come forward, stressing that the initiative was designed to encourage the recovery of illicitly acquired assets.
“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.
“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 said.
The EFCC chairman also revealed that the commission had recovered and forfeited cash and assets worth more than $500 million to the Nigerian government since he assumed office less than three years ago.
According to him, the recoveries have been driven by effective investigations, judicial support and access to credible intelligence.
Olukoyede further highlighted Nigeria’s use of non-conviction-based asset forfeiture, which allows authorities to pursue assets suspected to be proceeds of crime without waiting for a criminal conviction.
He cited several major recoveries, including an aircraft, university, estates and houses allegedly linked to proceeds of crime.
Among them were 752 housing units recovered from former CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele, as well as properties linked to former Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami.
Olukoyede said investigations into Malami led to the identification of 57 properties, of which 48 had so far been forfeited.
PerSecondNews reports that the Cambridge symposium is a premier annual conference for global economic crime and anti-corruption experts, with Olukoyede delivering his presentation on day three of the weeklong gathering.
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