Reported by: Ijeoma G | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
The Supreme Court of Nigeria has restored the final forfeiture of several high-value properties and $2.045 million linked to former Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Godwin Emefiele, overturning a Court of Appeal judgment that had ordered a fresh hearing of the case. In a unanimous judgment delivered on Friday, July 17, 2026, a five-member panel of the apex court, led by Justice Ibrahim Mohammed Musa Saulawa, upheld the 2024 decision of Justice Dehinde Dipeolu of the Federal High Court in Lagos, which had ordered the final forfeiture of the assets to the Federal Government. Justice Mohammed Idris, who delivered the lead judgment on behalf of the panel, held that the Court of Appeal erred when it set aside the final forfeiture order and directed that the case be heard afresh by the Federal High Court.
The legal battle began on November 1, 2024, when Justice Dipeolu of the Federal High Court in Lagos granted an application by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission for the final forfeiture of funds, including $2.045 million, alongside seven high-value properties and two share certificates of Queensdorf Global Fund Limited Trust linked to Emefiele. The court ruled that the assets were reasonably suspected to have been acquired through proceeds of unlawful activities. Dissatisfied with the decision, Emefiele, through his legal team led by Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Olalekan Ojo, approached the Court of Appeal. The appellate court, in its 2025 judgment, allowed Emefiele's appeal, nullified the forfeiture order and directed that proceedings should begin afresh before the lower court.
The EFCC subsequently appealed the decision at the Supreme Court. The anti-graft agency was represented at the apex court by a former Attorney-General of the Federation, Chief Kanu Agabi, SAN; the Director of Public Prosecutions of the Federation, Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN; and Abba Mohammed, SAN. Allowing the commission's appeal, the Supreme Court nullified the judgment of the Court of Appeal and restored the final forfeiture order issued by Justice Dipeolu in its entirety. The judgment marks a significant victory for the EFCC in its asset recovery campaign and brings to an end the legal dispute over the forfeiture order initially granted by the Federal High Court in Lagos.
The assets forfeited to the Federal Government include seven prime properties located in Lagos and Delta states. They comprise two fully detached duplexes at No. 17B Hakeem Odumosu Street, Lekki Phase 1, Lagos; an undeveloped parcel of land measuring 1,919.592 square metres on Oyinkan Abayomi Drive, Ikoyi; a bungalow at No. 65A Oyinkan Abayomi Drive, Ikoyi; a four-bedroom duplex at 12A Probyn Road, Ikoyi; an industrial complex under construction on 22 plots of land in Agbor, Delta State; eight apartment units on Adekunle Lawal Road, Ikoyi; and a duplex on Bank Road, Ikoyi. Also forfeited are $2.045 million in cash and share certificates belonging to Queensdorf Global Fund Limited. The assets are to be handed over to the Federal Government in accordance with the final forfeiture order issued by the Federal High Court.
Emefiele was represented at the Supreme Court by Olalekan Ojo, SAN, Labi Lawal, SAN, and Olawale Fapohunda. The EFCC's legal team comprised Chief Kanu Agabi, SAN, Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN, and Abba Mohammed, SAN. The ruling brings to a close Emefiele's legal challenge against the forfeiture order, which had been a subject of legal contestation since the Federal High Court's initial decision in 2024. The Supreme Court's unanimous decision effectively ends the former CBN governor's bid to retain the assets, which the anti-graft agency had successfully argued were proceeds of unlawful activities.
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