Alex Enumah in Abuja
A former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Godwin Emefiele, has permanently forfeited seven landed properties, the sum of $2,045,000 (Two Million, Forty-Five Thousand United States Dollars) and share certificates to the federal government.
This was following a judgement by the apex court delivered yesterday.
In a unanimous judgement delivered by a five-member panel of the apex court led by Justice Ibrahim Mohammed Saulawa, the court set aside the judgement of the Court of Appeal and affirmed the decision of the Federal High Court, 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.
It would be recalled that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had approached the apex court to challenge the verdict of the Court of Appeal, which had reversed the judgement of a Federal High Court which ordered the final forfeiture of the assets linked to Emefiele.
In his decision yesterday, the apex court agreed with the appellant that the lower court erred in law when it set aside the verdict of the trial court.
The apex court subsequently set aside the judgement of the appellate court and affirmed the judgement of the Federal High Court, Lagos, which had ordered the final forfeiture of the said assets.
The forfeited properties are: 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; abungalow 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; and full duplex together with all its appurtenances on a plot measuring 2,217.87 square metres, situated at 2A Bank Road, Ikoyi, Lagos.
The apex court also ordered the forfeiture of $2,045,000 (Two Million, Forty-Five Thousand United States Dollars) and share certificates of Queensdorf Global Fund Limited to the federal government.
The final forfeiture order was originally granted on November 1, 2024, by Justice D.I. Dipeolu of the Federal High Court sitting in Lagos in Suit No. FHC/L/MISC/500/24, following an application filed by the EFCC through its counsel, Director, Public Prosecution, Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN, pursuant to 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 application, brought as an action in rem, sought the final forfeiture of properties reasonably suspected to have been acquired with proceeds of unlawful activities. The application for the forfeiture was supported by an affidavit deposed to by David Jayeoba, an investigating officer with the EFCC, who averred that investigations revealed that the assets were reasonably suspected to have been acquired with proceeds of unlawful activities.
In its originating motion, the Commission urged the court to grant the final forfeiture under the provisions of Section 17 of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006, contending that the assets were liable to forfeiture because they were reasonably suspected to have been acquired through unlawful means.
A statement by the spokesperson of the EFCC, Mr. Dele Oyewale, observed that “With the Supreme Court’s unanimous decision affirming the judgement of the Federal High Court, the final forfeiture of the seven landed properties, the $2.045 million and the share certificates to the Federal Government of Nigeria has now been conclusively upheld.”
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