Nigerian court orders final forfeiture of $6.5 million in jewellery and cars from businesswoman Aisha Achimugu

A Nigerian court has ordered the permanent forfeiture to the federal government of jewellery, luxury vehicles and cash worth about $6.5 million recovered from the businesswoman Aisha Achimugu, deepening a two-year investigation into her finances.

Justice Jude Onwuegbuzie of the Federal Capital Territory High Court in Apo, Abuja, granted the order on Thursday. The assets comprise jewellery valued at $3.34 million (N4,645,170,294.90), 11 luxury vehicles worth $3.09 million (N4.293 billion), $50,000 and $21,583 (N30 million) in cash.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission announced the ruling in a statement from its head of media and publicity, Dele Oyewale. Achimugu has not been convicted of any criminal offence. The proceedings are civil, brought under the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Related Offences Act, which allows the state to seize assets it alleges are proceeds of unlawful activity without securing a criminal conviction.

How the case was built

The commission said its investigation began after it received intelligence indicating large inflows and outflows through more than 136 bank accounts it linked to Achimugu. Investigators said they found transactions involving billions of naira and millions of dollars moving through accounts and companies associated with her, and alleged that substantial sums passing through those companies were not declared as revenue in statements filed with the Federal Inland Revenue Service.

Operatives executed search warrants at her residence, where they recovered the jewellery, vehicles and cash. The commission alleged that she completed an assets declaration form during questioning but did not disclose the recovered items.

The court granted an interim forfeiture order on April 23 and directed the commission to publish it in national newspapers, inviting anyone with a claim to the assets to appear within 14 days. Achimugu responded through her lawyers with affidavits opposing the forfeiture and a motion to set aside the interim order. The commission, represented by Ekele Iheanacho, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, filed a counter-affidavit.

Delivering judgment, Onwuegbuzie held that she had failed to rebut the commission's evidence or discharge the burden of showing the assets were acquired legitimately.

The oil blocks behind the wider inquiry

Thursday's ruling follows a larger forfeiture earlier this year. The Federal High Court in Abuja ordered the permanent forfeiture of $13 million traced to Oceangate Engineering Oil and Gas Limited, a company where Achimugu is group chief executive, after Justice Emeka Nwite held that neither the company nor Achimugu had established the lawful origin of the funds.

That money was tied to two petroleum prospecting licences, Deep Offshore PPL 302 and Shallow Water PPL 3007, which Oceangate won in the 2024 licensing round run by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission. The total signature bonus was about $37.2 million, of which the company paid roughly $20 million between March and April last year, including $7 million through Providus Bank and $13 million in instalments through a Zenith Bank account.

The commission alleged the company sourced dollars through unlicensed bureau de change operators and intermediaries outside the formal banking system, naming three individuals and two companies in affidavits. It further alleged that part of the money originated with contractors executing projects for the Lagos State Government, claiming one of the named companies received more than $615,000 (N855 million) from such contractors, with total inflows exceeding $1.76 million (N2.45 billion), and that no commercial relationship existed between those contractors and Oceangate.

Oceangate contested the allegations. A director, Iliya Wakil, told the court the funds were legitimate company earnings alongside gifts made to Achimugu, and said the currency dealer the commission named was a licensed operator lawfully engaged to source dollars for a signature bonus the government required in foreign currency. The company denied any dealings with the other named parties, tendered audited financial statements, and argued the proceedings breached its right to a fair hearing.

The commission disputed that account, telling the court that Wakil was a nominal director with no shareholding who took instructions from Achimugu, and that the auditor who prepared the accounts relied principally on information supplied by the company.

From a Grenada party to a wanted notice

Public attention first turned to Achimugu in January 2024, after a 50th birthday celebration in Grenada drew politicians and business executives, among them Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, who later said his trip was undertaken to advance the state's economic interests.

The investigation escalated in March 2025, when the commission declared her wanted over money laundering allegations. She went to court seeking to restrain her arrest, was directed by a judge to honour the commission's invitation, and was detained at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja on arrival from London before being granted administrative bail.

Premium Times reported in March that investigators had widened the inquiry to examine contractors linked to the Lagos State Government, and that Sanwo-Olu was being scrutinised by virtue of his office, without any evidence publicly disclosed linking him personally to the transactions. The Lagos State Attorney General, Lawal Pedro, rejected suggestions the governor was under investigation.

The forfeitures now total more than $19 million across the two rulings. The wider investigation into her financial dealings remains open.