Olukoyede: EFCC Will Appeal Ruling Dismissing Forfeiture of Malami’s Nine Properties

Ola Olukoyede, chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), says the anti-graft agency will appeal a court ruling dismissing its bid to forfeit nine properties linked to Abubakar Malami, former attorney-general of the federation (AGF).

Olukoyede spoke on Wednesday while delivering a lecture at the 43rd Cambridge International Symposium on Economic Crime at Jesus College, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom.

The 2026 symposium, themed ‘Asset Recovery and the Rule of Law – Taking the Profit Out of Crime’, brings together law enforcement officials, judges, prosecutors and experts from different countries to examine ways of improving the recovery of crime proceeds.

The EFCC chairman said the commission traced 57 properties to Malami and had secured the final forfeiture of 48 of them.

“Sometimes last year, I opened investigations upon reasonable suspicion of criminal abuse of office by the immediate past attorney-general of Nigeria,” Olukoyede 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.

“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 statement comes weeks after the federal high court in Abuja ordered the final forfeiture of 48 properties linked to the former AGF.

The 57 properties were initially placed under an interim forfeiture order in January.

In its July 15 ruling, the court held that the EFCC had established that the 48 properties were proceeds of suspected unlawful activities.

However, Joyce Abdulmalik, the judge, dismissed the application concerning nine other properties in Kebbi and Kaduna, ruling that the EFCC had failed to establish that they were obtained through unlawful means.

The EFCC chairman said the commission’s use of civil forfeiture had enabled it to target assets suspected to be proceeds of crime without waiting for the conclusion of criminal trials.

He identified asset tracing, judicial support and credible intelligence as key factors in successful non-conviction-based forfeiture.

‘UP TO 5% REWARD FOR WHISTLEBLOWERS’

Olukoyede further said the EFCC will pay whistleblowers up to five percent of recovered assets where information provided by them leads to the recovery of stolen Nigerian assets.

He also urged the public to provide information that could help the commission trace stolen Nigerian assets, particularly those moved outside the country.

Olukoyede said whistleblowers could potentially receive significant financial rewards where their information leads to the recovery of stolen assets.

“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.

“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 credible intelligence from members of the public was one of the key factors necessary for effective asset tracing and forfeiture.