The Supreme Court has affirmed the final forfeiture of seven landed properties, $2.045 million and share certificates linked to former Central Bank of Nigeria governor, Godwin Emefiele, to the Federal Government.
A five-member panel led by Justice Ibrahim Mohammed Saulawa delivered the unanimous judgment on Friday, setting aside the Court of Appeal’s earlier decision and restoring the ruling of the Federal High Court, Lagos, which had ordered the final forfeiture.
The apex court held that the assets were reasonably suspected to have been acquired with proceeds of unlawful activities, upholding the trial court’s findings. Emefiele had challenged the forfeiture order at the Court of Appeal, which ruled in his favour. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) subsequently appealed to the Supreme Court, which has now reinstated the trial court’s judgment.
The forfeited properties include a duplex on Hakeem Odumosu Street, Lekki Phase 1; an undeveloped plot on Oyinkan Abayomi Drive, Ikoyi; a bungalow on the same street; a four-bedroom duplex on Probyn Road, Ikoyi; an industrial complex on 22 plots in Agbor, Delta State; eight apartment units on Adekunle Lawal Road, Ikoyi; and a duplex on Bank Road, Ikoyi. The court also affirmed forfeiture of the $2,045,000 and share certificates belonging to Queensdorf Global Fund Limited.
The forfeiture order was originally granted on November 1, 2024, by Justice D.I. Dipeolu of the Federal High Court, Lagos, in Suit No. FHC/L/MISC/500/24, following an EFCC application backed by Section 17 of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006, and Section 44(2)(b) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).
With Friday’s judgment, the legal dispute over the assets has been brought to a close.Emefiele loses final battle as Supreme Court seizes his mansions, millions for goodIt’s over for Godwin Emefiele. The Supreme Court has slammed the door on the former CBN governor’s last attempt to hold onto seven choice properties, $2.045 million in cash, and prized share certificates — all now permanently in the hands of the Federal Government.
Five Supreme Court justices, led by Justice Ibrahim Mohammed Saulawa, delivered a unanimous verdict on Friday that wiped out a Court of Appeal ruling which had briefly given Emefiele hope. The apex court instead restored the tough stance taken by the Federal High Court in Lagos, ruling that the ex-CBN boss’s assets reeked of suspected illicit proceeds.
Among the trophies lost: a swanky duplex on Hakeem Odumosu Street in Lekki Phase 1, prime undeveloped land on Ikoyi’s exclusive Oyinkan Abayomi Drive, a bungalow nearby, a four-bedroom duplex on Probyn Road, an industrial complex sprawled across 22 plots in Agbor, eight apartments on Adekunle Lawal Road, and yet another duplex on Bank Road — all in Ikoyi, Lagos’s most expensive postcode.
The EFCC, which had fought to keep the forfeiture alive after Emefiele’s Court of Appeal win, can now celebrate — the $2,045,000 and Queensdorf Global Fund Limited share certificates are staying with the government for good.
The whole saga traces back to November 1, 2024, when Justice D.I. Dipeolu first ordered the forfeiture, backed by anti-fraud laws and a constitutional forfeiture clause. Now, after the back-and-forth in the courts, Emefiele has officially run out of road.
