EFCC: Recovered Crime Assets Transformed Into Federal Universities


The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ola Olukoyede, has disclosed that assets recovered through anti-corruption investigations are being converted into productive public institutions, including federal universities.

Olukoyede said one of the most notable examples was the former NOK University in Kachia, Kaduna State, which was finally forfeited to the Federal Government and subsequently converted into the Federal University of Applied Sciences, Kachia (FUASK).

According to the EFCC chairman, the institution had already begun serving its new public purpose, with 1,909 students matriculating in December 2025. He said the development demonstrated how assets linked to unlawful activities could ultimately be redirected toward education and broader economic development.

Olukoyede made the disclosure in a video and accompanying statement shared on his official X account on Friday while highlighting the commission's recovery activities under his leadership.

He said the transformation of the Kaduna institution represented a shift from viewing asset recovery solely as punishment to ensuring that recovered value produces tangible benefits for Nigerians.

“Beyond cash,” Olukoyede said, the EFCC had secured the forfeiture of 10,053 assets between October 2023 and July 2026, covering real estate, land, vehicles, electronics, schools, factories, hotels, oil rigs, barges, machinery and aircraft, as well as 102 tonnes of solid minerals. He added that disposals had so far returned N12.07 billion to the Federal Government.

The EFCC chairman also disclosed that another private university had recently been finally forfeited to the Federal Government. Although he did not name the institution in his latest statement, his description corresponds with Rayhaan University in Kebbi State, which was among 48 properties linked to former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, that were finally forfeited following a Federal High Court judgment in July 2026.

The forfeited Rayhaan assets included the university's permanent, temporary and third sites, the Vice-Chancellor's residence and Rayhaan Radio, alongside a range of other properties and businesses in Kebbi, Kano and Abuja. The court held that the EFCC had established that the properties were reasonably suspected to have been acquired from unlawful activities and that the respondents had failed to demonstrate legitimate sources for the funds used to acquire them.

Olukoyede said the commission's broader recovery programme had also produced significant financial returns. In a separate scorecard covering the period from October 2023, the EFCC reported recovering more than N1.23 trillion and $684 million, while securing thousands of convictions.

The development highlights the potential social value of Nigeria's asset-recovery system when forfeited properties are not simply sold but are converted into institutions capable of providing lasting public benefits. In the case of the Kachia university, the former private campus is now being used to provide access to higher education while potentially contributing to economic activity in its host community.

For the EFCC, the conversion of recovered assets into educational and other productive facilities forms part of its argument that financial-crime enforcement should ultimately result in value being returned to society.


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