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A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has authorised the temporary forfeiture of N30.7 million allegedly connected to fraudulent dealings involving officials of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).
Justice Emeka Nwite issued the order on Monday after granting an ex parte application filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), ruling that the agency had presented sufficient grounds to warrant the interim seizure of the funds on behalf of the Federal Government.
As part of the ruling, the court ordered the EFCC to publish the forfeiture notice in a national newspaper, inviting any interested party to appear within 14 days and explain why the money should not be permanently confiscated.
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The matter was subsequently adjourned to January 22 for the commission to report back on compliance with the publication directive.
The EFCC told the court that its investigation followed the submission of a transaction ledger by a Bureau de Change operator, Yakubu, which detailed customer records and dollar sales.
Analysis of the ledger allegedly showed that more than N4 billion had been transferred to various individuals and corporate accounts based on instructions from Ibrahim Sani, identified as a staff member of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).
Investigators said the N30.7 million now subject to forfeiture remained in Yakubu’s possession and formed part of funds he claimed were handed to him by Sani. On September 15, 2025, Sani was invited by the EFCC after his name appeared repeatedly in the transaction records, and he provided a voluntary statement to the commission.
According to the EFCC, Sani admitted to using the BDC operator to channel funds to different beneficiaries, explaining that he routinely deposited large sums of foreign currency with Yakubu, who then transferred the naira equivalent to accounts specified by him.
The agency noted that Sani neither confirmed nor verified the origin of the funds, which are suspected to be proceeds of illegal activities. However, Sani denied ownership of the N30.7 million found in Yakubu’s account at the time of the investigation.
Both Yakubu and Sani have disclaimed ownership of the disputed funds.
The anti-graft agency maintained that the money constitutes proceeds of unlawful activities and relied on provisions of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006, in seeking the interim forfeiture order.
Under Nigeria’s asset recovery framework, such interim orders are designed to secure suspected criminal proceeds while affected parties are given the opportunity to challenge the forfeiture before a final decision is made by the court.
