THE Federal High Court in Abuja has approved an interim forfeiture of ₦30.7 million suspected to be connected to alleged fraudulent dealings involving officials of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).
Justice Emeka Nwite granted the order today after considering an ex parte application filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), ruling that the anti-graft agency had established sufficient grounds for the temporary seizure of the funds on behalf of the Federal Government.
The court also directed that the forfeiture order be published in a national newspaper, allowing any interested parties a 14-day window to show cause why the money should not be permanently forfeited.
The matter was adjourned to January 22 for the EFCC to submit a compliance report on the publication.
According to the EFCC, the funds were uncovered during investigations into alleged financial misconduct involving senior NNPC officials, alongside other petitions under review by the commission.
During the probe, the name of a Bureau De Change operator, Adamu Yakubu, reportedly emerged prominently in banking documents analysed by investigators.
Yakubu was invited by the commission on September 2, 2025, and subsequently provided a statement along with a transaction ledger detailing customer records and dollar sales.
Analysis of the ledger, the EFCC said, revealed that over ₦4 billion had been transferred into the accounts of various individuals and companies on the instructions of one Ibrahim Sani, a staff member of the Federal Inland Revenue Service.
Investigators further discovered that the ₦30.7 million subject to forfeiture remained in Yakubu’s possession and was allegedly part of funds handed to him by Sani.
Sani was invited for questioning on September 15, 2025, after his name appeared in the ledger and Yakubu claimed he owned the funds.
In his statement, Sani reportedly explained that he regularly deposited large sums of foreign currency with Yakubu, who then transferred the naira equivalent to accounts provided by him.
The EFCC noted that Sani admitted he neither verified nor ascertained the source of the funds, which investigators reasonably suspect to be proceeds of unlawful activities.
However, Sani denied ownership of the ₦30.7 million at the time of his statement.
Both Yakubu and Sani denied claiming ownership of the funds.
The EFCC maintained that the money constitutes proceeds of crime and relied on provisions of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006, to seek the interim forfeiture.
Under Nigeria’s asset recovery framework, interim forfeiture orders are designed to preserve suspected criminal proceeds while allowing affected parties the opportunity to contest the action before a final forfeiture decision is made.