Tunde Bakare
Justice Dehinde Dipeolu of the Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos, on Friday, November 1, 2024, ordered the final forfeiture of the sum of $2.045m, seven landed properties and the two share certificates of Queensdorf Global Fund Limited Trust linked to a former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Godwin Emefiele.
Justice Dipeolu gave the order, following a motion on notice filed and argued by a team of lawyers led by Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
The properties are: two fully detached duplexes of identical structures at No. 17b Hakeem Odumosu Street, Lekki Phase 1, Lagos; an undeveloped land, measuring 1919.592sqm with Survey Plan No. DS/LS/340 at Oyinkan Abayomi Drive (formerly Queens Drive), Ikoyi, Lagos; a bungalow at No. 65A, Oyinkan Abayomi Drive, (formerly Queens Drive), Ikoyi, Lagos and a four-bedroom duplex at 12 A, Probyn Road, Ikoyi, Lagos.
Others are: an industrial complex under construction on 22 plots of land in Agbor, Delta State; 8 units of an undetached apartment on a plot measuring 2457.60sqm at No. 8A, Adekunle Lawal Road, Ikoyi, and a full duplex together with all its appurtenances on a plot of land measuring 2217.87sqm at 2a Bank Road, Ikoyi, Lagos.
Justice Akintayo Aluko, a vacation Judge, had, on August 15, 2024, ordered the interim forfeiture of the properties, following an ex parte application filed by the EFCC through its lawyer, C.C. Okezie.
Moving the application dated August 13, 2024 and filed August 14, 2024, Okezie had told the court that the properties, cash and shares were reasonably suspected to have been acquired with proceeds of unlawful activities by Emefiele.
In his ruling, Justice Aluko had granted the application as prayed and also ordered the Commission to publish the interim order in any of these newspapers-The Punch, The Nation or The Guardian- and the EFCC website within 14days for any interested party to show cause why the final order of forfeiture should not be made in favour of the Federal Government of Nigeria.
However, Emefiele failed to contest the forfeiture within the court’s stipulated time frame.
During the sitting on October 11, 2024 ,the EFCC counsel had applied for the final forfeiture of the properties.
Moving the application for the final forfeiture of the properties on Friday, Oyedepo told the court that the Commission had complied with the order of the court regarding the publication.
The Judge, after listening to the submissions of the EFCC’ s counsel, ordered the final forfeiture of the properties.
According to the Judge, Emefiele was not able to connect his lawful earnings from both Zenith Bank and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to the acquisition of the properties.
The court also held that the former CBN Governor failed to provide documents or links to show that he owned the properties.
Justice Dipeolu held that “ the conclusion that can be deduced is that there must be something dark about the acquisition of the properties which Emefiele and the companies do not want to come to light”.
The judge further held “that the interested party has failed to demonstrate any lawful interest in the properties and that they were acquired from his legitimate earnings. I, therefore, order the final forfeiture to the Federal Government of Nigeria of all those properties…which are reasonably suspected to have been acquired with proceeds of unlawful activities”.