EFCC Offers 5% Reward for Tips on Stolen Nigerian Assets Abroad – Olukoyede

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has announced a five per cent reward for information that leads to the recovery of stolen Nigerian assets hidden abroad, as the anti-graft agency intensifies efforts to trace illicit funds across international borders. EFCC Chairman, Ola Olukoyede, disclosed the incentive while highlighting the agency’s renewed focus on recovering proceeds of corruption and other financial crimes moved outside Nigeria. The initiative is aimed at encouraging members of the public with credible information about properties, bank accounts, investments and other assets allegedly acquired with stolen Nigerian funds to come forward. Olukoyede has repeatedly stressed the importance of international cooperation in tackling financial crimes, noting that illicit funds can be transferred across jurisdictions within seconds and are often concealed through complex financial structures. Speaking at a recent regional anti-corruption conference in Abuja, he said West African anti-graft agencies had begun implementing a protocol that allows them to exchange intelligence, conduct cross-border investigations and assist one another in tracing illicit financial flows and recovering assets. According to him, the collaboration is already producing results, with anti-corruption agencies in the region sharing intelligence and assisting one another in tracing funds and assets linked to financial crimes. The EFCC chairman said the changing nature of corruption meant that Nigerian investigators could no longer rely solely on domestic enforcement. “Criminal networks now operate with little regard for national borders,” Olukoyede said, stressing the need for stronger international cooperation to follow the money. The commission's reward offer also builds on Nigeria's broader whistle-blower framework, under which individuals whose information contributes to the recovery of stolen public funds may receive a percentage of the amount recovered. A similar Federal Government whistle-blower policy introduced in 2016 provided for rewards of up to five per cent for information leading to the discovery of certain stolen funds. PUNCH reported at the time that the policy generated major recoveries, including millions of dollars and pounds allegedly hidden or diverted by public officials. The latest push comes as the EFCC continues to pursue increasingly complex financial crimes involving both domestic and international networks. Olukoyede recently said the agency had begun operationalising stronger cross-border cooperation among anti-corruption bodies in West Africa, allowing investigators to share information and support investigations involving illicit financial flows and assets located in different countries. The EFCC has also demonstrated its focus on pursuing cases involving large-scale financial losses. In the CBEX investment fraud case, for instance, Olukoyede disclosed that the commission had recovered funds lost by victims and had begun the process of securing final forfeiture of the recovered assets. The scheme reportedly affected hundreds of thousands of Nigerians and involved an estimated N1.3tn in losses. The commission says public cooperation remains essential to its asset-recovery efforts, particularly where stolen funds have been moved beyond Nigeria's borders. For Nigerians who possess credible information about suspected stolen assets abroad, the new reward could provide an additional incentive to report such information to the authorities. However, any information supplied to the EFCC would still have to undergo investigation and verification before a recovery could be established and any reward considered. The development signals a more aggressive approach by the anti-graft agency towards recovering Nigeria's assets, particularly funds allegedly moved overseas to make them difficult for Nigerian authorities to trace or recover.