Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court in Abuja has affirmed the final forfeiture of $13 million linked to Lagos socialite Aisha Achimugu and her company, Oceangate Engineering Oil & Gas Ltd, to the Federal Government.
Delivering judgment, Justice Nwite held that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission 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 the EFCC satisfied all requirements for the fund to be classified as proceeds of fraud and to be forfeited to the appropriate authority.
Justice Nwite dismissed claims that the $13 million was gifts received into the company by Achimugu, adding that she never came to court to show cause why the fund should not be forfeited.
He held that no single person who allegedly gave monetary gifts to 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 met by the applicant to counter the EFCC’s claims based on its investigation.
Justice Nwite had on August 22, 2025, granted the anti-graft agency’s motion ex parte for an interim order forfeiting the $13 million linked to Oceangate Ltd 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 parties to show cause within 14 days why the fund should not be permanently forfeited.
An EFCC investigator, Usman Aliyu, stated in an affidavit that the commission received intelligence alleging that Oceangate Engineering Limited used funds reasonably suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activity to acquire oil blocks from the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission.
The investigator alleged that the company conspired with unlicensed Bureau de Change operators and bank officials to retain and transfer funds totalling $13 million, which were reasonably suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activity.
He said part of the funds used by Oceangate to pay signature bonuses for oil blocks was derived from huge sums transferred by the Lagos State Government to contractors for contract execution.
Oceangate, in its affidavit to show cause, argued that the funds were derived partly from legitimate earnings and partly from gifts given to the company’s Group Chief Executive Officer, Aisha Achimugu.
The company maintained it did not conspire with any unlicensed BDC operators and bank officials, stating that Suleiman Chiroma was a licensed BDC agent engaged lawfully to source dollars needed for the signature bonuses.
The EFCC argued that the director who swore the company’s affidavit was a nominal director with no shareholding status, who admitted in his extra-judicial statement that he received all instructions from Achimugu.
The investigator described Oceangate as “a briefcase/shell company created as a vehicle for the purpose of holding petroleum-related assets procured with funds reasonably suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activity.”
He also noted that Achimugu admitted in her extra-judicial statement that “Oceangate Oil & Gas Limited does not do contracts for now nor has it carried out any contract either in the private or public sector.”
