Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court in Abuja has affirmed the final forfeiture to the Federal Government of Nigeria, a sum of $13 million linked to a Lagos socialite, Ms. Aisha Achimugu, and her company, Oceangate Engineering Oil & Gas Ltd.
Delivering judgment, Justice Nwite held that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) established that the foreign currency was proceeds of fraud and unlawful activities.
The judge further held that Oceangate Engineering Oil & Gas Ltd failed to establish how it came by the money.
He said that the EFCC satisfied all requirements for the fund to be classified as proceeds of fraud and to be forfeited to the appropriate authority.
The judge dismissed the claims that the $13 million was gifts received into the Oceangate Engineering Company by Aisha Achimugu, adding that the said Aisha never came to the court to show cause on why the huge fund should not be forfeited to the government.
He held that no single person who gave the monetary gift to Aisha Achimugu to the tune of $13 million was called to testify.
The judge further held that the burden to establish genuine ownership of the money was not established by the applicant to counter the claims of the anti- graft agency that the money was the proceeds of fraud based on its investigation.
According to the judge, Oceangate Engineering Company did not show the business it undertook that fetched it the money, nor did not also show whether any payment was made to it by any of its customers.
Justice Nwite had, on 22 August 2025, granted the anti-graft agency’s motion ex parte for an interim order forfeiting the sum of $13 million linked to Oceangate Ltd to the Federal Government over allegations that the fund was proceeds of unlawful activity.
The judge had then directed the commission to publish the order in a national daily for interested people to show cause within 14 days why the fund should not be permanently forfeited to the federal government.
