Ola Olukoyede, chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), says the anti-graft agency has forfeited “cash and assets worth over half a billion dollars” to the Nigerian government in the past three years.
Olukoyede spoke on Wednesday while delivering a lecture at
the Cambridge International Symposium on Economic Crime in the United Kingdom.
“Within three years of my assumption of office, we’ve been
able to forfeit both cash and assets worth over half a billion dollars to the
government,” he said.
The EFCC chairman said Nigeria’s legal framework, similar to
those obtainable in countries such as Australia and Canada, allows the
commission to seek forfeiture of assets suspected to be proceeds of crime
without waiting for a criminal conviction.
“We have similar to what is obtainable in Australia and
Canada that empowers us to apply the forfeiture to proceeds of what is
suspected to be proceeds of crime,” he said.
Olukoyede noted that the process of securing civil
forfeiture begins with an application to the high court.
“You apply ex parte to the high court upon a probable
suspicion of the proceeds of crime,” he said.
He cited the recent forfeiture of an aircraft linked to a
member of a monitoring committee for a power project in Nigeria.
According to Olukoyede, the individual allegedly collected a
$30 million bribe, leading to the forfeiture of the aircraft.
“This aircraft was forfeited by someone who was supposed to
be a member of monetary committee of a power project in Nigeria. We discovered
he collected a bribe of about $30 million in Nigeria,” he said.
“He forfeited that about three months ago and it has been
added to the presidential air fleet at the moment.”
Olukoyede said the forfeiture was secured within two months
of the commission’s application to the court.
He also disclosed that the commission had forfeited a
property containing about 753 housing units from a former governor of the
Central Bank of Nigeria.
“That property contains about 753 housing units we forfeited
from an erstwhile governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria. We have criminal
charges against him [in] about three courts,” Olukoyede said.
He further cited an investigation involving Abubakar Malami,
the immediate past attorney-general of Nigeria.
Olukoyede said the investigation, which began last year
following what he described as reasonable suspicion of criminal abuse of
office, led to the tracing of 57 properties allegedly linked to the former
attorney-general.
“Sometimes last year, I opened investigations upon
reasonable suspicion of criminal abuse of office by the immediate past
attorney-general of Nigeria,” he said.
“We discovered that within eight years of his being in
office, we were able to trace about 57 such properties to him. We’ve been able
to forfeit about 48.”
The EFCC chairman also cited the forfeiture of a private
university linked to a director in the federal ministry of health.
He said the official voluntarily surrendered the property
after the commission’s investigation.
Olukoyede attributed the commission’s success in securing
non-conviction-based forfeiture orders to three factors: the ability of its
operatives to trace assets, cooperation from the judiciary and access to
credible intelligence.
He said many of the commission’s investigators had received
training at leading institutions around the world.
“We also have some of the best investigators around the
world,” he said.
Olukoyede said a proactive judiciary was also necessary for
non-conviction-based forfeiture to work effectively. He identified credible
intelligence as the third factor.
The EFCC chairman also called for stronger protection and
incentives for whistleblowers, particularly those who provide information
leading to the recovery of stolen Nigerian assets located outside the country.
“The citizens must be encouraged with your whistleblower
protection,” he said.
“If any of you is privy to where Nigerian asset is stolen or
taken to anywhere in the world, we have an incentive for you. Between 2.5 and 5
percent is going to go back to you upon recovery.”
Olukoyede said such information could result in significant
financial rewards for whistleblowers whose intelligence leads to successful
asset recovery.
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com