Нигерия предлагает диаспоре до 5% от изъятых активов за информацию о коррупционерах

Nigerians in the diaspora now have the opportunity to make more millions without necessarily breaking a sweat. All that is required of them is to play the Peeping Toms and expose their compatriots who have looted the country and stashed their assets overseas. As a reward for their patriotic efforts, the Chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ola Olukoyede, has offered such whistleblowers between 2.5 per cent and 5 per cent of recovered stolen Nigerian assets for any information leading to the recovery of such loot. Olukoyede disclosed this penultimate Wednesday while delivering a lecture at the Cambridge International Symposium on Economic Crimes in the United Kingdom. The anti-graft agency boss said the ability of the operatives to trace assets to secure cooperation from the judiciary, and access to credible intelligence, were significant factors contributing to its success in securing non-conviction-based forfeiture orders. 1 He also said that the citizens must be encouraged with whistleblower protection, stressing that such insulation was key to the success of the strategy, reassuring the gathering that if any of them was privy to where a stolen Nigerian asset is taken to anywhere in the world, “we have an incentive for you. Between 2.5 and 5 per cent is going to go back to you upon recovery.” The EFCC boss further revealed that the agency had forfeited cash and assets worth over $500 million to the Federal Government in the past three years, and cited several cases in which the agency had recorded success, including forfeiture cases involving a former Chairman of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and a former Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami. He said the action taken by the commission was similar to what was obtainable in Australia and Canada, empowering it to apply for the forfeiture of what is suspected to be proceeds of crime. “You apply ex parte to the High Court upon a probable suspicion of the proceeds of crime,” Olukoyede explained and recalled an instance in which the agency forfeited an aircraft from an unnamed individual who had been involved in a $30m bribe. He said, “This aircraft was forfeited by someone who was supposed to be a member of the monetary committee of a power project in Nigeria. We discovered he collected a bribe of about $30 million in Nigeria. The aircraft was forfeited about three months ago, and it has been added to the presidential air fleet at the moment.” Olukoyede also cited the forfeiture of a private university linked to a director in the Federal Ministry of Health, after which the official voluntarily surrendered the property following the commission’s investigation. However, the whistleblowing initiative announced by the EFCC boss is not new to Nigerians. The policy was first introduced by the Muhammadu Buhari administration with the promise to reward the whistleblowers with 5 per cent of any fraud they exposed in the public and private sectors. This policy provided that the whistleblowers should supply the government with information not known to it already or in the public domain. The initiative was intended to encourage the exposure of the underbellies of individuals who had illegally enriched themselves. It was also expected to enhance transparency and accountability in the management of public funds, improve Nigeria’s Open Government Ranking and Ease of Doing Business Indicators and recover public funds that could be channeled into financing the nation’s infrastructure shortfall. The whistleblowers were also defined as those who voluntarily revealed information in good faith about possible misconduct or violations that had occurred or are about to occur. The disclosures could include mismanagement or misappropriation of public funds and assets like property and vehicles, financial malpractice and fraud, collecting or soliciting bribes, corruption, diversion of revenues, fraudulent and unapproved payments, splitting of contracts, procurement fraud such as kickbacks, over-invoicing, et cetera. Information so received from whistleblowers was to be analysed first to determine whether or not to open an investigation on the matter. Consequently, a portal was created for the whistleblowers to submit information with the assurance that protection would be provided for suspects falsely accused, while such whistleblowers would be liable to prosecution after due investigations. Although the whistleblowing initiative was new in Nigeria at the time, the former Johnson-Sirleaf administration introduced a similar policy in Liberia in December 2009 through a decree, which provided that anyone who exposed an act of corruption would not only be rewarded but also guaranteed protection. The policy clearly provided that anyone who gave information leading to the recovery of stolen money would be paid five per cent of the funds. It also provided that those who feared for their jobs after exposing their superiors would, if they wished, be transferred. The government, however, warned that whistleblowers who acted out of “spite or vengeance” would receive no rewards. It showed seriousness by decreeing whistleblowing into existence. No law backed the Nigerian initiative. The policy, laudable as it was, could not survive the test of time in Nigeria because it lacked the legislative backing it had in Liberia. It was a mere pronouncement, which fizzled out even before Buhari exited power. The EFCC is advised to send a bill on whistleblowing to the National Assembly to capture corrupt Nigerian elements within the country and overseas, like what was obtained in Liberia. The rebirth of the policy should be given the legal teeth to bite. One good thing about the initiative is that Nigerians would be encouraged to expose corrupt elements in their midst and become instant millionaires. For instance, raking in N50m by giving away a crook who is sitting on N1bn would not be a bad idea after all.