The Federal High Court in Lagos has ordered the final forfeiture of $1,426,175.14 linked to Godwin Emefiele, the former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). The ruling, delivered on Tuesday by Justice Ayokunle Faji, mandates the forfeiture of the funds to the Nigerian government.
The final order followed an application by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), which had initially secured an interim forfeiture order on May 29, 2014. The judge also instructed that the court order be published in newspapers to allow any interested parties to come forward and contest the forfeiture.
At the hearing, EFCC counsel Mrs. Bilkisu Buhari-Bala reported that no one had claimed the money following the publication of the order. She stated that the funds were proceeds from unlawful activities by Emefiele, who allegedly received kickbacks for approving forex allocations to multinational firms during the forex crisis in Nigeria.
Buhari-Bala further explained that the forfeiture order was made under Section 17 of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud-related Offences Act. This recent forfeiture follows a prior ruling by Justice C.J. Aneke, which ordered the forfeiture of properties worth N12.18 billion from Emefiele.
In support of the forfeiture application, EFCC investigator David Jayeoba provided an affidavit detailing the discovery of the funds through intelligence. According to Jayeoba, Emefiele and his associates used intermediaries Uzeobo Anthony and Adebanjo Olurotimi to collect bribes and disguise the proceeds as legitimate funds. These funds were traced through various accounts, including foreign accounts in Mauritius, before being returned to Nigeria.
The affidavit detailed the receipt of $26,552,000 into a Titan Trust account, with specific transactions on several dates between November 2021 and September 2022. Of this amount, $1,426,175.14 remained, which the EFCC sought to forfeit as proceeds of Emefiele’s unlawful activities.
