Apex court restores Federal High Court ruling, ordering final forfeiture of assets linked to former CBN governor to the Federal Government.
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 by a five-member panel led by Justice Ibrahim Saulawa, the apex court set aside an earlier decision of the Court of Appeal in Lagos and upheld the ruling of the Federal High Court, Lagos, which ordered the forfeiture of the assets.
According to a statement by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) spokesperson, Dele Oyewale, the Federal High Court had granted the forfeiture order on November 1, 2024, after finding that the assets were reasonably suspected to have been acquired through proceeds of unlawful activities.
The EFCC said the forfeiture application was filed 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.
Following the trial court’s decision, Emefiele challenged the ruling at the Court of Appeal, which overturned the judgment. However, dissatisfied with the appellate court’s verdict, the anti-graft agency approached the Supreme Court, which has now restored the original forfeiture order.
Among the assets forfeited are a detached duplex on Hakeem Odumosu Street, Lekki Phase 1; an undeveloped parcel of land on Oyinkan Abayomi Drive, Ikoyi; a bungalow and multiple luxury properties in Ikoyi; an industrial complex under construction in Agbor, Delta State; and eight units of apartments on Adekunle Lawal Road, Ikoyi.
The Supreme Court’s decision effectively brings to a close the legal battle over the ownership of the assets, with the court affirming that they now belong to the Federal Government.
Emefiele, who served as CBN governor from 2014 to 2023, is currently facing multiple criminal charges before courts in Abuja and Lagos.