Former Central Bank Governor Godwin Emefiele has permanently lost seven landed properties, $2,045,000 and share certificates to the federal government, after the Supreme Court delivered a unanimous judgment affirming an earlier Federal High Court forfeiture order the Court of Appeal had previously overturned.
A five member panel led by Justice Ibrahim Mohammed Saulawa set aside the Court of Appeal’s judgment and restored the Federal High Court, Lagos ruling that had ordered final forfeiture of the assets on grounds they were reasonably suspected to have been acquired with proceeds of unlawful activity. The case reached the apex court after the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission challenged the Court of Appeal’s earlier reversal, and the Supreme Court agreed with the EFCC that the lower appellate court erred in law when it set aside the trial court’s original verdict, restoring the Federal High Court’s forfeiture order in full.
The forfeited properties include a fully detached duplex at 17B Hakeem Odumosu Street, Lekki Phase 1, Lagos; an undeveloped 1,919.592 square metre parcel of land on Oyinkan Abayomi Drive, formerly Queens Drive, Ikoyi, Lagos; a bungalow at 65A Oyinkan Abayomi Drive, also in Ikoyi; a four bedroom duplex at 12A Probyn Road, Ikoyi; an industrial complex under construction on 22 plots in Agbor, Delta State; eight units of undetached apartments on a 2,457.60 square metre plot at 8A Adekunle Lawal Road, Ikoyi; and a full duplex on a 2,217.87 square metre plot at 2A Bank Road, Ikoyi. The court also ordered forfeiture of the $2,045,000 and share certificates belonging to Queensdorf Global Fund Limited. The original final forfeiture order was granted on November 1, 2024 by Justice D.I. Dipeolu of the Federal High Court, Lagos, in Suit No. FHC/L/MISC/500/24, following an application from EFCC counsel Rotimi Oyedepo under Section 17 of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act 2006 and Section 44(2)(b) of the Constitution, brought as an action in rem seeking forfeiture of properties reasonably suspected to have been acquired through unlawful activity, supported by an affidavit from EFCC investigating officer David Jayeoba. EFCC spokesperson Dele Oyewale said the Supreme Court’s unanimous decision affirming the Federal High Court judgment means the final forfeiture of the seven properties, the $2.045 million and the share certificates to the federal government has now been conclusively upheld
