EFCC Has Forfeited Over $500m in Cash, Assets to FG in Three Years — Olukoyede
ABUJA – Ola Olukoyede, Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), says the anti-graft agency has secured the forfeiture of cash and assets valued at more than $500 million to the Nigerian government within the last three years.
Olukoyede disclosed this while speaking at the Cambridge International Symposium on Economic Crime in the United Kingdom.
He explained that Nigeria’s legal framework empowers the EFCC to seek the forfeiture of assets suspected to have been acquired through criminal activities, even where a criminal conviction has not yet been secured.
According to him, the process involves approaching the High Court for a civil forfeiture order based on reasonable suspicion that an asset represents proceeds of crime.
The EFCC chairman cited the recent forfeiture of an aircraft connected to an individual who allegedly received a $30 million bribe while serving on a monitoring committee for a power project.
He said the aircraft was forfeited within about two months after the commission approached the court and has since been added to the presidential air fleet.
Olukoyede also disclosed that the commission had secured the forfeiture of a property containing approximately 753 housing units linked to a former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, who is facing criminal charges in three courts.
He further spoke about an investigation into Abubakar Malami, Nigeria’s immediate past attorney-general.
According to Olukoyede, the investigation, which began following suspicions of criminal abuse of office, resulted in the identification of 57 properties allegedly linked to the former attorney-general. He said 48 of those properties have so far been forfeited.
The EFCC chairman also mentioned the forfeiture of a private university connected to a director in the Federal Ministry of Health, saying the official voluntarily surrendered the property following an investigation.
Olukoyede attributed the commission’s success with non-conviction-based asset forfeiture to three major factors: the ability of investigators to trace assets, cooperation from the judiciary and access to credible intelligence.
He said EFCC investigators have received training from leading institutions internationally, while stressing that an active and responsive judiciary is essential for the forfeiture process to function effectively.
Olukoyede also called for stronger protection and incentives for whistleblowers who provide information capable of helping authorities recover stolen Nigerian assets, particularly those moved abroad.
He said individuals whose information leads to successful recovery could receive between 2.5 and five percent of the recovered assets as an incentive.
