Court orders forfeiture of N11.14bn properties linked to Emefiele

The Federal High Court sitting in Lagos has issued an order for the interim forfeiture of properties valued at N11,140,000,000.00, linked to former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor, Godwin Emefiele.

Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke granted the order following a motion ex parte filed and argued by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) counsel, Senior Advocate of Nigeria Rotimi Oyedepo, accompanied by Bilkisu Buhari-Bala and Chineye Okezie.

The court has ordered that the properties be temporarily forfeited to the Federal Government.

Oyedepo informed the court that Emefiele is suspected of having acquired the high-value properties, located mostly in affluent areas of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, through proxies using the proceeds of fraud.

Additionally, the EFCC named three CBN staff members—Obayemi Oluwaseun Teben, Akomolafe Adebayo, and Olubunmi Makinde—who allegedly used their positions to secure foreign exchange allocations for various companies in return for kickbacks.

Justice Aneke ordered the EFCC to publish the interim forfeiture order in a newspaper to allow any interested parties to show cause why a final forfeiture order should not be issued.

The judge has scheduled the hearing for the motion for final forfeiture for June 21.

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