Supreme Court upholds final forfeiture of Emefiele’s properties, $2m assets to FG

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.

In a unanimous judgment delivered on Friday by a five-member panel led by Ibrahim Saulawa (Justice), the apex court set aside an earlier decision of the Court of Appeal and restored the judgment of the Federal High Court in Lagos, which had ordered the permanent forfeiture of the assets.

The court held that the assets were reasonably suspected to have been acquired with proceeds of unlawful activities.

The ruling marks the end of the legal battle over the assets after the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) successfully challenged the Court of Appeal’s decision before the Supreme Court.

According to the anti-graft agency, Emefiele had appealed the Federal High Court’s forfeiture order, securing a favourable judgment at the Court of Appeal, which overturned the trial court’s decision.

However, dissatisfied with the appellate court’s verdict, the EFCC approached the Supreme Court, urging it to reinstate the lower court’s judgment.

The apex court agreed with the commission’s position and restored the forfeiture order made by the Federal High Court.

The assets forfeited to the Federal Government include a fully detached duplex at No. 17B Hakeem Odumosu Street, Lekki Phase 1, Lagos; an undeveloped parcel of land measuring 1,919.592 square metres at Oyinkan Abayomi Drive, Ikoyi; a bungalow at No. 65A Oyinkan Abayomi Drive, Ikoyi; and a four-bedroom duplex located at 12A Probyn Road, Ikoyi.

Others are an industrial complex under construction on 22 plots of land in Agbor, Delta State; eight units of undetached apartments on Adekunle Lawal Road, Ikoyi; and a duplex on Bank Road, Ikoyi.

In addition to the landed properties, the Supreme Court also ordered the final forfeiture of $2,045,000 and share certificates belonging to Queensdorf Global Fund Limited.

The forfeiture proceedings originated from a judgment delivered on November 1, 2024, by D.I. Dipeolu, Justice of the Federal High Court, Lagos, in Suit No. FHC/L/MISC/500/24.

The court had granted the EFCC’s application for final forfeiture after finding that the assets were reasonably suspected to have been acquired with proceeds of unlawful activities.

The application was filed by the EFCC through Rotimi Oyedepo, its Director of Public Prosecutions, 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 commission’s application was supported by an affidavit deposed to by David Jayeoba, one of its investigating officers, who stated that investigations linked the properties, funds and share certificates to proceeds of unlawful activities.

The EFCC maintained that the action was brought in rem, seeking forfeiture of assets rather than prosecution of an individual, and argued that the properties met the legal threshold for confiscation under the relevant provisions of the law.