BREAKING: Supreme Court orders final forfeiture of properties, $2m linked to Emefiele

The Supreme Court has ordered the final forfeiture of properties and $2.045 million associated with Godwin Emefiele, former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), to the federal government.

In a unanimous decision issued on Friday, the Supreme Court overruled the Lagos Court of Appeal’s decision to nullify the forfeiture order.

The court ruled that the Court of Appeal erred in overturning the forfeiture decision and ordering that the subject be reheard by the trial court.

On November 1, 2024, Deinde Dipeolu, a federal high court judge in Lagos, ordered the permanent confiscation of funds (including $2.045 million), seven prime landed properties, and two share certificates of Queensdorf Global Fund Limited Trust belonging to Emefiele to the federal government.

The assets were reportedly suspected of having been acquired with proceeds from illegal activities.

The forfeited properties include two fully detached duplexes with identical structures at No. 17b Hakeem Odumosu Street, Lekki Phase 1, Lagos; an undeveloped land measuring 1919.592 sqm with Survey Plan No. DS/LS/340 at Oyinkan Abayomi Drive (formerly Queens Drive), Ikoyi, Lagos; a bungalow at No. 65a Oyinkan Abayomi Drive (formerly Queens Drive), Ikoyi, Lagos; and a four-bedroom duplex at 12a Probyn Road, Ikoyi.

Others include an industrial complex under construction on 22 plots of land in Agbor, Delta State; eight units of an undetached apartment on a plot measuring 2457.60 sqm at No. 8a Adekunle Lawal Road, Ikoyi; and a duplex with all its appurtenances on a plot of land measuring 2217.87 sqm at 2a Bank Road, Ikoyi, Lagos.

In June 2025, the Lagos Court of Appeal overturned the final forfeiture order imposed against Emefiele’s assets.

Two of the appellate court’s three justices reversed the trial court’s decision and ordered a retrial in the lower court.

In the verdict issued by Abdulazeez Anka, the court stated that it was confident that Emefiele’s lawful earnings could be used to acquire the properties.

Anka did, however, point out that the accused did not oppose the forfeiture of the $2,045,000 owed to the federal government.

The judge determined that the money should be forfeited to the federal government.