The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has offered whistleblowers up to 5% reward for credible information leading to the recovery of Nigerian assets allegedly stashed abroad.
EFCC Chairman Ola Olukoyede made the disclosure on Wednesday, August 26, 2026, while delivering a lecture at the 43rd International Symposium on Economic Crime in Cambridge, United Kingdom, an annual gathering of economic crime and anti-corruption experts from around the world.
Olukoyede called on individuals with actionable intelligence on monetary and non-monetary assets allegedly stolen from Nigeria and hidden in foreign countries to come forward, saying the initiative is 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… You never tell if you give any information here, some of you may leave this place, multi-millionaire in your lifetime,” he said.
EFCC Has Recovered Over $500 Million In Under Three Years
The EFCC chairman said the commission has recovered and forfeited cash and assets worth more than $500 million to the Nigerian government since he took office less than three years ago. He said the recoveries have been driven by effective investigations, judicial support and access to credible intelligence.
Olukoyede pointed to Nigeria’s use of non-conviction-based asset forfeiture, a legal mechanism that allows authorities to pursue assets suspected to be proceeds of crime without waiting for a criminal conviction.
He cited several major recoveries under this approach, including an aircraft, a university, and various estates and houses allegedly linked to proceeds of crime.
Among the cases cited were 752 housing units recovered from former Central Bank of Nigeria (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 to the state, figures he presented as evidence of the commission’s growing capacity to trace and recover illicitly acquired wealth both within Nigeria and abroad.
He delivered the presentation on the third day of the week-long Cambridge symposium.
