A Federal High Court in Abuja has issued an order for the final forfeiture of $13million claimed by Oceangate Engineering Oil & Gas Ltd, a firm associated with businesswoman and Lagos socialite Aisha Achimugu.
The trial judge Justice Emeka Nwite in a ruling granted a motion by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for the final forfeiture of the money to the Federal Government.
The trial judge held that neither the Oceangate Engineering nor Aisha Achimugu was able to prove to the court that the money was legitimately earned.
Justice Nwite also held that the contention by Oceangate Engineering’s lawyer, Darlington Ozurumba that the money was derived came from gifts to Achimugu and earnings from gas and oil-related contracts could not be substantiated by credible evidence.
Justice Nwite rejected Ozurumba’s argument that the court lacked jurisdiction to have granted the Aug. 22, 2025 interim forfeiture while the court sat as vacation court, upholding the submission by EFCC’s lawyer, Rotimi Oyedepo, that relevant laws, including Order 46(5) of the Federal High Court’s Rules, Section 17 of the Advance Fee Fraud Act, 2006, and others, were complied with in granting the order.
Justice Nwite however described as baseless, the argument by lawyer to Oceangate Engineering that the EFCC was a meddlesome interloper since no person or corporate body complained to it that their money was missing.
The trial court had last year, issued an order for the interim forfeiture of the funds, which the EFCC claimed were proceeds of unlawful activities.
It ordered the commission to publish the interim order in a national daily for any interested party to show cause why the money should not be permanently forfeited to the Fed Govt.
Oceangate filed an affidavit, in response to the publication to show cause, claiming ownership of the money and among others, rejecting EFCC’s allegation that the funds formed proceeds of unlawful activities.
The company claimed that the funds were legitimately sourced for the payment for its interest in two oil licences – PPL 302 and PPL 3007 – which it won sometime in 2024.
The EFCC, in its response to Oceangate’s affidavit to show cause, gave details of its investigation, which it claimed, revealed that the $13m was from unlawful sources and that part of the money was contributed by contractors engaged by the Lagos State Government.
On September 15, 2025 the same court granted similar motion by the EFCC for the final forfeiture of $7m which it claimed to have recovered in Providus Bank branch in Ikoyi Lagos, but which nobody came forward to claim.
A company, Felak Group later issued a statement to dismiss reports linking its Chief Executive Officer, Aisha Achimugu and its subsidiary, pOceangate Engineering Oil & Gas to the controversial $7 million cash transaction allegedly tied to Providus Bank.
(Editor: Anoyoyo Ogiagboviogie)
