The Supreme Court has affirmed the final forfeiture of seven landed properties, $2.045 million and share certificates linked to former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, to the Federal Government, bringing to a close a protracted legal battle over the assets.
In a unanimous judgment delivered on Friday, a five-member panel of the apex court led by Justice Ibrahim Mohammed Saulawa set aside the earlier decision of the Court of Appeal and restored the judgment of the Federal High Court, Lagos, which had ordered the forfeiture of the assets on the grounds that they were reasonably suspected to have been acquired with proceeds of unlawful activities.
The ruling represents a major legal victory for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), which challenged the appellate court’s decision after it overturned the forfeiture order granted by the trial court.
Following the Federal High Court’s final forfeiture order, Emefiele had appealed the decision, securing a favourable judgment at the Court of Appeal. However, dissatisfied with the outcome, the EFCC approached the Supreme Court, which has now reinstated the trial court’s judgment in its entirety.
The assets forfeited to the Federal Government include a fully detached duplex at 17B Hakeem Odumosu Street, Lekki Phase 1, Lagos; an undeveloped parcel of land measuring 1,919.592 square metres on Oyinkan Abayomi Drive, Ikoyi; a bungalow at 65A Oyinkan Abayomi Drive, Ikoyi; a four-bedroom duplex at 12A Probyn Road, Ikoyi; an industrial complex under construction on 22 plots of land in Agbor, Delta State; eight units of apartments on Adekunle Lawal Road, Ikoyi; and a full duplex on Bank Road, Ikoyi.
The apex court also ordered the forfeiture of $2,045,000 and the share certificates of Queensdorf Global Fund Limited to the Federal Government.
The assets were initially forfeited on November 1, 2024, when Justice D.I. Dipeolu of the Federal High Court, Lagos, granted the EFCC’s application in Suit No. FHC/L/MISC/500/24.
The application, filed by the Commission through its Director of Public Prosecutions, Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN, was brought pursuant to Section 17 of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006, and Section 44(2)(b) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).
The EFCC sought the forfeiture through an action in rem, arguing that the properties and funds were reasonably suspected to have been acquired with proceeds of unlawful activities.
Supporting the application, EFCC investigating officer David Jayeoba deposed to an affidavit stating that investigations established reasonable grounds to believe that the assets were proceeds of unlawful activities and therefore liable to forfeiture under the law.
Accepting the Commission’s arguments, the Federal High Court granted the final forfeiture, a decision that has now been conclusively upheld by the Supreme Court.
The judgment effectively ends all legal disputes over the assets, permanently vesting ownership of the seven properties, the $2.045 million and the share certificates in the Federal Government of Nigeria.
