Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the interim forfeiture of N30.7 million believed to be proceeds of fraud connected to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited.
Gatekeepers News reports that the order followed an application by Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), which the court said was merited.
Presiding Judge Emeka Nwite granted the ex parte request and directed that the interim forfeiture be published in a national newspaper.
The notice will allow any interested party 14 days to show cause why the funds should not be permanently forfeited to the federal government. The matter was adjourned to January 22 for a compliance report.
EFCC filed the case in late December 2025, seeking, among other things, the interim forfeiture of the N30.7 million suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activities and lodged in the commission’s recovery account at United Bank for Africa through four managers’ cheques.
In supporting affidavits, EFCC investigators said the probe stemmed from petitions alleging fraudulent dealings involving officials linked to NNPC.
They said intelligence gathering, financial records analysis, and bank enquiries identified Adamu Yakubu, a bureau de change operator, whose ledger showed transactions involving billions of naira at the direction of Ibrahim Sani, a staff member of the Federal Inland Revenue Service.
The investigators said Yakubu and Sani both denied owning the N30.7 million, which Yakubu said was given to him by Sani.
The commission asked the court to issue the forfeiture order under the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act.
The judge’s directive to publish the order aims to invite any person claiming an interest in the funds to appear in court within 14 days, after which the forfeiture may be made final.
