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The Court of Appeal in Abuja has upheld the final forfeiture of ₦1.582 billion to the Federal Government, reaffirming an earlier judgment by the Federal High Court against Steve Olusegun Ogidan, a former National Coordinating Consultant for the Nigerian Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL).
The appellate court delivered its ruling on Friday, endorsing the decision made on January 22, 2025, by Inyang Ekwo, Justice of the Federal High Court in Abuja.
The judgment follows an investigation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) into allegations of criminal breach of trust, bribery, and money laundering against Ogidan and Aliyu Abbati Abdulhameed, former Managing Director at NIRSAL.
In a statement released by Dele Oyewale, Head of Media and Publicity at the EFCC, the Commission disclosed that its investigations revealed that Ogidan had received illicit payments from consultants he was tasked with supervising.
These payments, according to EFCC, were allegedly made in exchange for turning a blind eye, resulting in the complete abandonment of assigned projects.
The funds in question, EFCC said, were traced to these corrupt dealings.
An interim forfeiture order was initially secured by the EFCC on February 5, 2024.
However, both Ogidan and Abdulhameed challenged the final forfeiture, filing separate appeals at the Court of Appeal.
They sought a review of whether the trial court had correctly applied Section 17 of the Advance Fee Fraud Act in ordering the forfeiture of the funds to the government.
The appeal was heard on April 10, 2025, with the court reserving judgment until Friday’s decision.
In delivering the lead judgment, Okon Abang, on behalf of a panel of justices, dismissed the appeals as lacking merit.
He affirmed that the Federal High Court had acted within the bounds of the law in granting the forfeiture order.
The appellate court pointed to the fact that Ogidan had previously sought an out-of-court settlement and voluntarily returned the funds to the government through the EFCC.
This act, the court held, further validated the trial court’s decision to approve the final forfeiture.
