A Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court has ordered the final forfeiture of assets valued at about N8.9 billion, including luxury jewellery, exotic vehicles, cash and foreign currency, linked to businesswoman Aisha Achimugu, to the Federal Government.
Justice Jude Onwugbuzie, in a ruling delivered on Thursday, granted the application filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and dismissed the objections raised by Achimugu against the forfeiture proceedings.
The assets ordered forfeited include jewellery valued at N4.6 billion, 11 exotic vehicles worth N4.3 billion, $50,000 in cash and N30 million.
The ruling marks the latest development in the EFCC’s ongoing legal battle with Achimugu over alleged proceeds of unlawful activities.
Earlier, on March 25, the Federal High Court ordered the final forfeiture of $13 million linked to Achimugu and her company, Oceangate Engineering Oil & Gas Ltd., in favour of the Federal Government.
The anti-graft agency had told the court that the funds, suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activities, were used by Oceangate Engineering Oil & Gas Ltd. to acquire oil blocks from the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).
Achimugu, through her legal team, maintained that the $13 million represented legitimate business earnings and gifts she had received. However, the EFCC challenged the claim, arguing that she failed to personally appear before the court to substantiate the source of the funds.
The commission further alleged that part of the money originated from funds transferred by a state government to contractors handling public projects but was later traced to Oceangate Engineering Oil & Gas Ltd. despite the company having no contractual relationship with the state government.
The courts’ forfeiture orders represent a significant victory for the EFCC in its asset recovery efforts as investigations into the matter continue.
