Reported by: Ijeoma G | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
The Abuja Division of the Federal High Court has issued an interim forfeiture order on nine high-value properties linked to former Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, who is currently at large and wanted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over an alleged N14.8 million fraud and a failed coup plot against President Bola Tinubu. Justice Obiora Atuegwu Egwuatu granted the order on April 24, 2026, following an ex parte application filed by the EFCC. The enrolled order was made public on May 6.
The affected assets, all located in choice districts of the Federal Capital Territory, are suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activities. They include four blocks of terraces at Plot 1070, Dakibiyu, Abuja; a duplex with a penthouse and an office complex at No 3, River Niger Street, Maitama; a standalone duplex at Villa 1, Unit 1, Palm Springs Estate, Mpape; and a block of flats with 10 units at No. 8 Sefadu Street, Wuse Zone 4. Others are eight units of one-bedroom flats at No. 8 Misratah Street, Wuse II, Abuja; a block of flats with six units at No. 1 Mubi Close, Garki; two blocks of flats with 12 units at Plot 1181, Thaba Tseka Crescent, Wuse II; a standalone duplex at No. 18, Nile Lake, Plot 1271, Maitama; and a two‑block building currently occupied by the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) at No. 5 Aguta Street, Garki.
The EFCC filed the application under the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Related Offences Act, 2006, in suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/607/2026. Moving the motion, EFCC counsel Oluwaleke Atolagbe argued that the properties were reasonably suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activities and sought an interim forfeiture pending the hearing of a motion for final forfeiture. Justice Egwuatu ruled, “An interim order of this honourable court is made forfeiting the properties listed in the schedule attached herein, being properties suspected to be proceeds of some unlawful activities, pending the publication and hearing of the motion on notice for final forfeiture order of the said properties.” He also ordered the publication of the interim order in any two of six national newspapers — ThisDay, The Guardian, Punch, Vanguard, Tribune and Independent Newspapers — within seven days of the receipt of the certified true copy of the order.
The judge further directed that any interested party may appear before the court within 14 days of the publication to show cause why the properties should not be permanently forfeited to the Federal Government. The matter was adjourned to May 25, 2026, for a report of compliance. Sylva, a former governor of Bayelsa State, has been declared wanted by the EFCC since November 2025 over a $14.8 million fraud case linked to a refinery project. More recently, he was named in a 13‑count charge before the same court over an alleged coup plot against President Bola Tinubu, alongside retired military officers, a serving police inspector and a Department of State Services operative. Prosecutors say Sylva fled the country before the plot was uncovered and remains at large.
The interim forfeiture order effectively freezes the assets, preventing any disposal or transfer while the EFCC’s investigation continues. If no interested party comes forward within the stipulated 14 days, the court may proceed to grant a final forfeiture order, transferring the properties permanently to the Federal Government. The forfeiture case is separate from the ongoing treason trial of other alleged coup plotters. On May 5, the Federal High Court in Abuja played video evidence in which two defendants admitted knowledge of the plot to overthrow President Tinubu. Those defendants remain in custody, while Sylva, who was named as a financier, has not been arrested.
Sylva has previously denied any wrongdoing, stating through associates that he has been outside Nigeria for medical treatment and that he is not on the run. His lawyers have not yet filed any challenge to the interim forfeiture order. The court’s ruling, however, allows the EFCC to take possession of the properties even before Sylva is arraigned. Properties suspected to be proceeds of crime can be forfeited without a criminal conviction under the Advance Fee Fraud Act, which empowers the court to order interim forfeiture if there is reasonable ground to believe the assets were acquired with illicit funds.
The EFCC has intensified its asset recovery drive in recent months, targeting properties linked to politically exposed persons. Since January 2026, the commission has secured at least five interim forfeiture orders on properties across Lagos, Kano and the Federal Capital Territory. The commission says the proceeds from permanently forfeited assets are remitted to the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation. Sylva’s political career, once ascendant, now hangs in the balance. A final forfeiture order would strip him of a property portfolio valued at hundreds of millions of naira, even if the criminal case against him drags on for years. His name, which once commanded respect at the highest levels of Nigeria’s oil and gas industry, is now attached to a court order that brands his properties as suspected proceeds of crime. And in the vast, silent corridors of those nine Abuja buildings, the state has now moved in.
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