Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered businesswoman and socialite, Aisha Achimugu, to appear before the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on Tuesday, April 29, 2025.
The judge also said Achimugu must appear before the court on Wednesday, April 30, 2025.
This order came after Achimugu filed a case against several government agencies, including the Nigeria Police Force, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, the Department of State Services, the EFCC, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, and the Nigeria Immigration Service.
According to a statement from EFCC spokesperson, Dele Oyewale, the Commission explained its side through a counter-affidavit presented by its lawyer, Ekele Iheanacho. The affidavit was sworn by an EFCC investigator, Chris Odofin.
Odofin said Achimugu is being investigated for alleged conspiracy, obtaining money by false pretense, money laundering, corruption, and owning property suspected to have been bought with illegal funds.
He explained that Achimugu first honoured the EFCC’s invitation on February 12, 2024, and made a written statement. She was granted administrative bail through her lawyer and surety, Darlington N. Ozurumba.
However, the EFCC said she failed to return as agreed and instead filed a case claiming her rights were being abused.
In her statement, Achimugu explained that N8.71 billion that entered her company’s accounts was “investment money” meant to buy an oil block. She said her company, Oceangate Engineering Oil and Gas Limited, transferred the money to a Federal Government account, and she showed documents from the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission.
But further EFCC investigations showed that her company acquired two oil blocks — Shallow Water PPL 3007 and Deep Offshore PPL 302-DO — for $25.3 million. The Commission said the payments were allegedly made in cash through bureau de change operators and that the sources of the funds could not be linked to any real business or partnerships.
The EFCC also said the process of getting the oil blocks was corrupt, and that no oil exploration or production had started on either block as of the time of the investigation.
The Commission accused Achimugu of trying to use her court case to stop the investigation, even though a court had earlier dismissed her claims of rights violation under suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/451/2024.
“Following the dismissal of the earlier suit, the EFCC continued its investigation by dispatching inquiry letters to various banks and the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), the Federal Inland Revenue Services, Land Authorities, the Special Control Unit Against Money Laundering, and the Central Bank of Nigeria to gather more evidence,” Oyewale said.
He added, “The affidavit also shows the applicant operates a total of one hundred and thirty-six (136) bank accounts across ten different banks both in her personal and corporate names.”
The case will continue on Wednesday, April 30, 2025, while Achimugu is expected to first report to the EFCC on Tuesday as directed by the court.
