The Federal High Court in Lagos has ordered the permanent forfeiture of $2.045 million, seven prime properties, and share certificates connected to Godwin Emefiele, the former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
Justice Deinde Dipeolu issued the ruling on Friday, determining that the funds and share certificates held by Queensdorf Global Fund Limited Trust will be permanently surrendered to the Federal Government. This final decision follows a previous interim forfeiture order, which went uncontested by Emefiele or any other interested party.
In his ruling, Justice Dipeolu stated that Emefiele failed to demonstrate that his earnings from Zenith Bank or his tenure at CBN funded the acquisition of these assets. The former CBN governor did not provide documentation proving legitimate ownership of the properties in question.
Emefiele denied ties to the companies under which the properties were purchased, and none of the companies came forward to claim ownership. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had listed these firms as Amrash Ventures Limited, Modern Hotels Limited, Finebury Properties Limited, Fidelity Express Services Limited, H & Y Business Global Limited, and SDEM Erectors Nigeria Limited.
Justice Dipeolu remarked, “It is reasonable to deduce that there may be an obscured aspect to the acquisition of these properties that Emefiele and the companies do not want disclosed. The interested party has not proven any lawful interest in the properties nor that they were obtained through legitimate means.”
The forfeited assets include two detached duplexes at 17b Hakeem Odumosu Street, Lekki Phase 1, Lagos; a vacant plot of 1,919.592 square meters at Oyinkan Abayomi Drive, Ikoyi; a bungalow at 65a Oyinkan Abayomi Drive, Ikoyi; and a four-bedroom duplex at 12a Probyn Road, Ikoyi. Other assets include an industrial complex on 22 plots in Agbor, Delta State; eight units of undetached apartments on a 2,457.60-square-meter plot at 8a Adekunle Lawal Road, Ikoyi; and a full duplex on 2,217.87 square meters at 2a Bank Road, Ikoyi.
On August 15, 2024, the court granted the EFCC’s request for interim forfeiture of these assets following an ex parte application by the commission’s lead counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN.
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