The Supreme Court’s decision comes about 19 months after the Federal High Court in Abuja ordered the final forfeiture of a vast estate comprising 753 housing units in the FCT recovered from Mr Emefiele.
The Supreme Court, on Friday, affirmed the permanent forfeiture of seven landed properties alongside over $2 million and share certificates linked to former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, to the federal government.
In a unanimous decision delivered by a five-member panel, the Supreme Court set aside the judgement of the Court of Appeal in Lagos which lifted the forfeiture order on the assets.
The Federal High Court, Lagos, had ordered the final forfeiture of the assets because they were reasonably suspected to have been acquired with proceeds of unlawful activities.
Following the final forfeiture order made by the Federal High Court, Mr Emefiele challenged the decision before the Court of Appeal, which reversed the judgement of the trial court.
Displeased with the appellate court’s decision, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) approached the Supreme Court, which on Friday restored and affirmed the judgement of the Federal High Court.
The Supreme Court panel led by Justice Ibrahim Saulawa, held on Friday that the Federal High Court, Lagos, was right to order the permanent forfeiture of the assets on the grounds that they were reasonably suspected to have been acquired with proceeds of unlawful activities. It thereby set aside the Court of Appeal’s decision lifting the final forfeiture order.
The Supreme Court’s decision comes about 19 months after the Federal High Court in Abuja ordered the final forfeiture of a vast estate comprising 753 housing units in Abuja recovered from Mr Emefiele. EFCC has since handed over the estate to the federal government for public use.
The assets forfeited by Mr Emfeile based on Friday’s judgement of the Supreme Court are:
Justice Deinde Dipeolu of the Federal High Court in Lagos granted the final forfeiture order was originally granted on 1 November 2024 following an application by Director, Public Prosecution, Rotimi Oyedepo, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN).
He brought the application in the suit marked FHC/L/MISC/500/24 under section 17 of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006, and Section 44(2)(b) of the Nigerian constitution.
It sought the final forfeiture of properties reasonably suspected to have been acquired with the proceeds of unlawful activities.
The application for the forfeiture was supported by an affidavit sworn by David Jayeoba, an investigating officer with the EFCC, who shared details of investigative findings on the assets.
Mr Jayeoba said investigations revealed that the assets were reasonably suspected to have been acquired with proceeds of unlawful activities.
The EFCC 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.
Mr Emefiele, who was removed as CBN governor by President Bola Tinubu in 2023, is facing multiple corruption charges in Lagos and Abuja stemming from his activities while in office. However, Friday’s ruling is a non-conviction-based forfeiture, meaning the assets were forfeited without a criminal conviction.
Friday’s forfeiture adds to the list of assets recovered from Mr Emefiele through court processes since his removal from office in June 2023 over corruption and fraud allegations.
In December 2024, the EFCC obtained a court’s order of final forfeiture of a vast estate comprising 753 housing units in Abuja linked to Mr Emefiele.
Five months later, in May 2025, the federal government handed over the estate, spanning 150,500 square metres, located on Plot 109, Cadastral Zone C09, Lokogoma District, Abuja, to the government.
The Supreme Court’s order also continued the streak of permanent forfeiture orders the EFCC has obtained just this week against high-end luxury belongings including cars and jewellery, massive landed assets, a university, schools and factories recovered from politically exposed persons.
On Wednesday, the Federal High Court in Abuja ordered the final forfeiture of 48 properties linked to former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami.
On Thursday, the Federal Capital Territory High Court in Apo, Abuja, ordered the final forfeiture of properties linked to businesswoman Aisha Achimugu, to the federal government.
The properties include jewelry worth N4.6 billion (N4,645,170, 294.9 billion, 11 exotic cars worth N4.23 billion (N4.293,000,000), $50,000 and N30 million.
The courts issued the final forfeiture orders after EFCC convinced them that the assets were proceeds of unlawful activities and the owners from whom they were recovered were unable to offer credible evidence that they legitimately acquired them.
