Court Fixes April 30 for Ruling on Final Forfeiture of Property Owned by Former Acting AGF

opeolumartinFebruary 4, 202605 mins

Maitama, Abuja — February 4, 2026

Justice Mohammed Umar of the Federal High Court sitting in Maitama, Abuja, has fixed April 30, 2026, for ruling on an application filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) seeking the final forfeiture of a property owned by the former Acting Accountant General of the Federation, Mr. Chukwunyere Anamekwe Nwabuoku.
At Tuesday’s proceedings, defence counsel, N.I. Quakers, SAN, informed the court that he had filed an application seeking to set aside the interim forfeiture order granted by the court on January 27, 2025. He also drew the court’s attention to a notice of preliminary objection dated August 15, 2025, challenging the jurisdiction of the court to entertain the matter.
The defence urged the court to discountenance the EFCC’s application for final forfeiture on the grounds that the property in question is part of the subject matter of a separate criminal trial against the defendant in another court. He further prayed the court to set aside the prosecution’s application.

In his response, prosecution counsel, Ekele Iheanacho, SAN, referred the court to a motion dated and filed on May 6, 2024, seeking a final forfeiture order. He stated that the property was reasonably suspected to have been acquired with proceeds of crime. According to him, the application is supported by an eight-paragraph affidavit deposed to by Chinyelu Vivian Okpara, an operative of the EFCC, with exhibits marked EFCC 1 to EFCC 7 attached.

Relying on the contents of the affidavit, the prosecution urged the court to grant the application. Iheanacho explained that the respondent, at the material time, was the Director of Finance at the Ministry of Defence, where funds were released strictly for military operations against Boko Haram. He alleged that part of the funds was diverted through fictitious accounts to the tune of about N900 million.

The prosecution further stated that approximately N355 million from the diverted funds was traced to the respondent through an account he allegedly nominated, belonging to M. Davies Enterprises Ltd, from which the property in question was purchased. He added that the defendant currently resides in the property.

According to the prosecution, during the course of investigation, the defendant voluntarily handed over the keys to the property and refunded part of the funds, only to later challenge the forfeiture when proceedings commenced. The prosecution also informed the court that a further affidavit was filed on May 16, 2024, and again urged the court to grant the application.
Justice Umar, after listening to submissions from both parties, adjourned the matter until April 30, 2026, for ruling on the applications and judgment.

Meanwhile, the EFCC is also prosecuting Nwabuoku before Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court, Abuja, on an amended nine-count charge of money laundering involving the sum of N868,465,000.