Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke of the Federal High Court, Lagos yesterday ordered the permanent forfeiture of properties valued N11, 14 billion and N1.04 billion linked to the former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Godwin Emefiele.
The judge gave the order of final forfeiture in response to a motion filed by the counsel for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Chineye Okezie.
“Having carefully considered the application and submission of counsel, it is hereby ordered as follows: – that a final forfeiture order of this honourable court is hereby made 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 judge said.
The property included shops and apartments at Cadastral Zone Maitama and Wuse.
They also included land and apartments worth valued N1.04 billion.
“A final forfeiture order of this honourable court is, hereby, made forfeiting to the Federal Government of Nigeria, properties contained in Schedule B herein which properties were traced to have been acquired with proceeds of unlawful activities,” the judge added.
The anti-graft outfit had alleged that the properties were acquired with proceeds of fraud.
The Commission had previously obtained an interim forfeiture order on 5 June 2024 as argued by its counsel, Mr Rotimi Oyedepo.
The properties, listed in two schedules (A and B), include shops, apartments, lands, and apartments located in highbrow areas of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.
The properties were traced and reasonably suspected to have been acquired with proceeds of unlawful activities.
The EFCC alleged that Emefiele used proxies, including two current and one former CBN employees, to acquire the properties.
The staff members were identified as Obayemi Oluwaseun Teben, Akomolafe Adebayo, and Olubunmi Makinde (now a former staff member).
According to the EFCC, the properties were acquired through fraudulent means, including the use of proceeds from illegal foreign exchange transactions.
The commission alleged that the CBN staff members used their positions and influence to secure retail and special allocation of foreign exchange to different companies in exchange for kickbacks.
The court’s order was made after no party appeared to contest the interim forfeiture order.
