A Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the final forfeiture of $13 million linked to Aisha Achimugu a businesswoman  and her company, Oceangate Engineering Oil & Gas Ltd, to the Federal Government.
Delivering judgment on Wednesday,  Emeka Nwite, ruled in favour of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), holding that the funds were proceeds of unlawful activities.
According to a statement by Dele Oyewale, EFCC’s spokesman, the case stemmed from a suit filed by Oceangate Engineering Oil & Gas Ltd seeking to reclaim the $13 million, which the EFCC had earlier secured under an interim forfeiture order.
In his ruling,  Nwite held that the company failed to provide credible evidence explaining how it legitimately acquired the funds.
He stated that the burden of proof rested on the applicant to demonstrate lawful ownership, a requirement the firm did not meet.
The judge dismissed claims that the money represented gifts to Achimugu, noting that neither the businesswoman nor any alleged donors appeared in court to substantiate the assertion.
“No individual who purportedly made the gifts testified before the court,” the judge observed, adding that the absence of such evidence significantly weakened the company’s case.
 Nwite further held that the EFCC successfully established that the funds were reasonably suspected to be proceeds of fraud.
According to the court, Oceangate failed to show any legitimate business transactions or contracts that could have generated the $13 million.
It also did not provide evidence of payments from clients or business partners to justify the inflow of the funds.
The court therefore upheld the anti-graft agency’s position that the money was illicit and should be forfeited to the government.
The final forfeiture order follows an earlier ruling on August 22, 2025, when the court granted an interim forfeiture of the funds and directed the EFCC to publish the order in a national newspaper, inviting interested parties to show cause within 14 days why the money should not be permanently forfeited.
In an affidavit supporting the application,
Usman Aliyu, EFCC investigator  said the commission acted on intelligence linking the funds activities.
He alleged that Oceangate used the $13 million to pay signature bonuses for oil blocks, PPL 302 and PPL 3007, awarded by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).
Aliyu further claimed that part of the funds originated from large sums transferred by a state government to contractors for public projects.
According to him, those contractors had no legitimate business relationship with Oceangate and were neither investors nor shareholders in the company.
In its defence, Oceangate argued that the funds were derived partly from legitimate business earnings and partly from gifts to its Group Chief Executive Officer.
However, the EFCC urged the court to dismiss the claims, maintaining that the explanations were unsubstantiated and inconsistent with its findings.
 Nwite agreed with the anti-graft agency, stating that the company failed to disprove the allegations or establish a lawful source for the funds.

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