A Federal High Court in Abuja has issued a final forfeiture order on $13 million connected to Oceangate Engineering Oil & Gas Ltd, a company linked to businesswoman Aisha Achimugu, after finding no credible evidence that the funds were lawfully acquired.
Justice Emeka Nwite delivered the ruling on Wednesday in response to a motion filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), concluding that neither Achimugu nor her company had demonstrated to the court’s satisfaction that the money was legitimately earned.
The court rejected arguments by Oceangate’s counsel, Darlington Ozurumba, who had contended that the funds originated from personal gifts to Achimugu and proceeds from oil and gas contracts. Justice Nwite found those claims unsupported by concrete evidence.
The judge also threw out a jurisdictional challenge raised by the defence, which had questioned the validity of an interim forfeiture order granted on August 22, 2025, on the grounds that it was issued during a vacation sitting. Justice Nwite upheld the EFCC’s position that all relevant legal provisions — including Order 46(5) of the Federal High Court rules and Section 17 of the Advance Fee Fraud Act, 2006 — had been properly observed.
Additionally, the court dismissed the claim that the EFCC had no business intervening in the matter simply because no individual or organisation had formally reported the money as missing, describing that line of argument as without merit.
🚨BREAKING: Watch The Video Clip Here ➤
