A Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the permanent forfeiture of $13 million linked to businesswoman Aisha Achimugu and her company, Oceangate Engineering Oil & Gas Ltd, to the Federal Government.
Delivering judgment on Wednesday, March 25, 2026, Justice Emeka Nwite held that the company failed to prove the legitimate source of the funds. The court ruled that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) successfully established that the money was proceeds of unlawful activities.
Oceangate had approached the court to reclaim the funds, claiming they were partly earned through legitimate business and partly received as gifts by Achimugu, the firm’s Group Chief Executive Officer. However, the court dismissed the claims, noting that Achimugu did not appear to justify the origin of the money, while no individual was presented to support the alleged gift claims.
Justice Nwite further held that the company could not provide evidence of any business transactions or payments from clients that could justify the $13 million. He stressed that the burden of proving lawful ownership was not discharged by the applicant.
The court had earlier, on August 22, 2025, granted an interim forfeiture order and directed the EFCC to publish a notice inviting interested parties to show cause why the funds should not be permanently forfeited. No convincing evidence was subsequently presented.
According to an affidavit by EFCC investigator Usman Aliyu, the commission traced the funds to suspicious transactions, including payments allegedly used by Oceangate to acquire oil blocks—PPL 302 and PPL 3007—from the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).
Aliyu stated that part of the funds originated from public money transferred by contractors handling government projects, despite no existing business relationship between them and Oceangate. He added that the contractors were neither investors nor shareholders in the company.
The EFCC also challenged the credibility of Oceangate’s defence, describing one of its deponents, Iliya Wakil, as a nominal director without shareholding. Investigations revealed he was an employee of another company owned by Achimugu and received no salary from Oceangate.
The commission further alleged that Oceangate operated as a shell entity used to acquire petroleum assets with illicit funds, an assertion the court found credible.
Consequently, the court granted the EFCC’s request and ordered the final forfeiture of the $13 million to the Federal Government.
