The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, on Wednesday, ordered final forfeiture of the sum of $13 million that was linked to a Lagos socialite, Ms Aisha Achimugu and her company, Oceangate Engineering Oil & Gas Limited.
The court, in a judgment delivered by Justice Emeka Nwite, held that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had successfully established that the money was proceeds of fraud and unlawful activitie
It held that neither Achimugu nor her company were able to prove how the fund was legitimately acquired.
The court dismissed as balderdash the claim that the $13 million was an accumulation of gifts that Oceangate Engineering Company Ltd received through Ms Achimugu.
Justice Nwite noted that although it was the company that approached the court to lay claim to the funds, Achimugu whom it claimed received the monetary gifts failed to appear during the proceedings to show cause why the money should not be forfeited to the Federal Government.
Furthermore, the court stressed that none of the persons who allegedly offered the monetary gift to Achimugu was called to testify before it to establish the claim.
According to the court, the company failed to demonstrate the business activities that generated the funds, and it adduced no evidence showing how any customer made payments.
It will be recalled that Justice Nwite had, on August 22, 2025, issued an interim order for the temporary forfeiture of the funds, even as he directed the EFCC to make a publication inviting anyone who had an interest in the money to show cause why it should not be seized by the Federal Government as proceeds of fraud.
Following the interim order, Oceangate Engineering Oil & Gas Ltd filed an application wherein it insisted that the money genuinely belonged to it, being gifts received by its principal, Achimugu.
The EFCC stated in an affidavit deposed to by one of its investigators, Usman Aliyu, that it received credible intelligence that the company had, without recourse to due process, used funds reasonably suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activities to acquire oil blocs from the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).
The anti-graft agency disclosed that upon completion of technical and commercial bid, NUPRC notified the company of its winning bidder status and the condition precedent to be fulfilled before issuance of a licence to the company
