Emefiele: Supreme Court okays forfeiture of $2m, properties, share certificates to FG

By Ikechukwu Nnochiri

ABUJA— The Supreme Court, on Friday, upheld the final forfeiture of seven landed properties, the sum of $2.45 million, and share certificates linked to the embattled former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Godwin Emefiele, to the Federal Government.

The apex court, in a unanimous decision by a five-member panel led by Justice Ibrahim Saulawa, vacated the judgment of the Lagos Division of the Court of Appeal, which had denied the FG the right to take over the listed assets.

The appellate court had reversed a verdict of the Federal High Court in Lagos, which had ordered the final forfeiture of the assets on the grounds that they were reasonably suspected to have been acquired with proceeds of unlawful activities.

Emefiele had approached the appellate court to challenge the high court judgment, which he insisted occasioned a miscarriage of justice against him.

The high court, in the judgment that Justice D.I. Dipeolu delivered on November 1, 2024, issued the final forfeiture order following a suit marked FHC/L/MISC/500/24, which was filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The anti-graft agency predicated the suit on the provisions of Section 17 of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006, and Section 44(2)(b) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended).

The forfeiture application was supported by an affidavit deposed to by David Jayeoba, an investigating officer with the EFCC.

The deponent told the court that investigations revealed that the assets were reasonably suspected to have been acquired with proceeds of unlawful activities.

In its judgment on Friday, the Supreme Court said it was satisfied that the anti-graft agency had made out a sufficient case to warrant the forfeiture of the assets to the government.

It held that Emefiele had failed to prove that the listed assets were acquired through legitimate means.

The properties the apex court gave the FG the nod to permanently seize from the respondent included:

A fully detached duplex of identical structures situated at No. 17B Hakeem Odumosu Street, Lekki Phase 1, Lagos;

An undeveloped parcel of land measuring 1,919.592 square metres, covered by Survey Plan No. DS/LS/340, situated at Oyinkan Abayomi Drive (formerly Queens Drive), Ikoyi, Lagos;

A bungalow situated at No. 65A Oyinkan Abayomi Drive (formerly Queens Drive), Ikoyi, Lagos;

A four-bedroom duplex situated at 12A Probyn Road, Ikoyi, Lagos;

An industrial complex under construction on 22 plots of land in Agbor, Delta State;

Eight units of undetached apartments on a plot measuring 2,457.60 square metres, situated at No. 8A Adekunle Lawal Road, Ikoyi, Lagos;

A full duplex, together with all its appurtenances, on a plot measuring 2,217.87 square metres, situated at 2A Bank Road, Ikoyi, Lagos.

Emefiele, who served as governor of the apex bank from 2014 to 2023, is facing multiple charges before courts in Abuja and Lagos State.