Justice D.I. Dipeolu of the Federal High Court in Ikoyi, Lagos, has ordered the final forfeiture of N1,292,798,746.81 to the Federal Government of Nigeria in favour of Sterling Bank Plc. The funds were illicitly withdrawn by individuals exploiting a system glitch at the bank.
The judgment followed a motion filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on January 8, 2025. The court had earlier, on March 12, 2025, granted an interim forfeiture order and directed the publication of the notice in a national newspaper to allow any interested party to contest the action. The EFCC published the interim order in The Punch newspaper on March 24, 2025.
According to the EFCC, the funds were traced to various accounts, including:
– N900 million in M. Sharif Inter-Trading and Marketing Company Ltd.’s UBA account
– N255.8 million in Mustapha Abubakar’s UBA account
– N12.1 million in Mustapha Sharif Abubakar’s UBA account
– N41.1 million in Mustapha Sharif Abubakar’s Jaiz Bank account
– N19 million in Abubakar Mustapha Sharif’s First Bank account
– N30.8 million in Mustapha Sharif Abubakar’s Sterling Imal account
EFCC counsel Hannatu U. KofarNaisa argued that the funds were proceeds of unlawful activities, and no party had come forward to contest the forfeiture.
Delivering his ruling, Justice Dipeolu stated, “Having gone through the motion and attachments, I find the application meritorious and same is accordingly granted.” The judge subsequently ordered the final forfeiture of the funds to the Federal Government in favour of Sterling Bank Plc.
The ruling marks the conclusion of an investigation launched after Sterling Bank reported a N2.5 billion theft linked to the system glitch.
