The Supreme Court has upheld the final forfeiture of assets and $2.045 million linked to former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, in favour of the Federal Government.
In a unanimous judgment delivered on Friday, the apex court overturned the decision of the Court of Appeal in Lagos, which had earlier nullified the forfeiture order and directed that the case be retried.
The Supreme Court ruled that the Court of Appeal erred in setting aside the judgment of the Federal High Court, which had ordered the permanent forfeiture of the assets after finding that they were reasonably suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activities.
Justice Deinde Dipeolu of the Federal High Court in Lagos had, on November 1, 2024, ordered the final forfeiture of $2.045 million, seven landed properties and two share certificates of Queensdorf Global Fund Limited Trust linked to Emefiele.
The forfeited properties include 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 (formerly Queens Drive), Ikoyi; a bungalow at No. 65A Oyinkan Abayomi Drive, Ikoyi; and a four-bedroom duplex at 12A Probyn Road, Ikoyi.
Also forfeited are an industrial complex under construction spread across 22 plots of land in Agbor, Delta State; eight units of an undetached apartment on a 2,457.60-square-metre plot at No. 8A Adekunle Lawal Road, Ikoyi; and a duplex with appurtenances on a 2,217.87-square-metre plot at 2A Bank Road, Ikoyi, Lagos.
The Federal High Court had held that the assets were reasonably suspected to have been acquired with proceeds of unlawful activities.
However, in June 2025, the Court of Appeal in Lagos, in a majority decision of its three-member panel, overturned the forfeiture order and directed that the matter be returned to the Federal High Court for a fresh hearing.
In the lead judgment, Justice Abdulazeez Anka held that Emefiele’s legitimate earnings could reasonably account for the acquisition of the properties. The appellate court, however, upheld the forfeiture of the $2.045 million, noting that the funds were not contested.
With Friday’s judgment, the Supreme Court restored the Federal High Court’s original forfeiture order, affirming that the properties and the $2.045 million are to remain permanently forfeited to the Federal Government, effectively bringing the legal battle over the assets to an end.
