The Federal High Court in Lagos has ruled that properties worth more than N12.18 billion that were once owned by former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, must be finally forfeited to the Federal Government.
After considering an application filed and contested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) through its attorney, Chineye Okezie, Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke on Friday granted the order of permanent forfeiture.
Remember that the judge granted the EFCC’s application for a temporary seizure of the properties, which had been filed and argued by the organization’s attorney, Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN, on June 5, 2024.
Oyedepo had informed the court that Emefiele is believed to have used the profits of fraud from his time as CBN governor to purchase the desirable properties through a proxy.
Two present and one former employee of CBN were named by the EFCC as Emefiele’s co-conspirators in the purported scam.
The EFCC submitted an affidavit in support of the motion, naming Obayemi Oluwaseun Teben and Akomolafe Adebayo as the suspected accomplices. They collaborated with Olubunmi Makinde, a former employee of CBN, and other individuals.
After giving careful consideration to both sides’ applications and submissions, the judge rendered a decision in which she declared, “This honourable court is hereby made a final forfeiture order forfeiting to the Federal Government of Nigeria, properties contained in Schedule A herein which were traced and reasonably suspected to have been acquired with proceeds of unlawful activities.”
The majority of the forfeited properties are found in affluent areas of Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
