The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has vowed to challenge a Federal High Court decision that refused final forfeiture of nine properties linked to former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami.
EFCC Chairman, Mr. Ola Olukoyede, made the disclosure on Wednesday while speaking at the 43rd Cambridge International Symposium on Economic Crime held at Jesus College, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom.
The symposium, themed “Asset Recovery and the Rule of Law – Taking the Profit Out of Crime,” drew law enforcement officers, judges, prosecutors and experts from across the globe.
Olukoyede revealed that the commission had traced 57 properties to the former AGF and had already secured final forfeiture orders on 48 of them. He said the agency was preparing an appeal against the court’s decision on the remaining nine properties located in Kebbi and Kaduna states.
“Sometimes last year, I opened investigations upon reasonable suspicion of criminal abuse of office by the immediate past Attorney-General of Nigeria. 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.
“Even the nine that were left for him, I’m considering filing an appeal so that we can take everything away from him. And we’re going to do that,” the EFCC boss stated.
The development follows the July 15 ruling of the Federal High Court in Abuja, where Justice Joyce Abdulmalik ordered the final forfeiture of 48 properties earlier placed under interim forfeiture in January. The judge held that the EFCC had established sufficient grounds that the 48 properties were proceeds of unlawful activities.
However, the court dismissed the application in respect of the nine properties in Kebbi and Kaduna, ruling that the commission failed to prove they were acquired through illicit means.
Olukoyede noted that the EFCC’s use of civil forfeiture had boosted its capacity to recover suspected proceeds of crime without waiting for the conclusion of criminal trials. He listed effective asset tracing, credible intelligence and judicial support as key factors for successful non-conviction-based forfeiture.
In a related development, the EFCC chairman announced that the commission would reward whistleblowers with between 2.5 per cent and five per cent of recovered assets where their information leads to the recovery of stolen Nigerian assets.
He urged members of the public, especially those with knowledge of assets allegedly stashed abroad, to come forward with credible intelligence.
“The citizens must be encouraged with your whistleblower protection. 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.
“You can never tell, if you give me any information, some of you here may leave this place a multi-millionaire in dollars before the end of this month,” Olukoyede said.
He stressed that credible intelligence from citizens remained vital for effective asset tracing and recovery, particularly where illicit assets have been moved across borders.
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