A Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the permanent forfeiture of $13 million tied to businesswoman Aisha Achimugu and her company, Oceangate Engineering Oil & Gas Ltd.
Delivering judgment on Wednesday, Justice Emeka Nwite ruled that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) successfully established that the funds were proceeds of fraudulent activities.
The decision followed a legal action by the anti-graft agency challenging the legitimacy of the money, which it alleged was linked to unlawful dealings.
In his ruling, Justice Nwite held that Oceangate failed to provide convincing proof of how the $13 million was legitimately acquired. He dismissed the company’s argument that the funds were gifts to Achimugu, pointing out that she did not appear before the court to defend the claim.
The judge also noted that none of the supposed donors were presented as witnesses to support the company’s position. Additionally, the court found no evidence of business transactions or customer payments that could justify the source of the funds.
He concluded that the company did not meet the legal burden required to prove lawful ownership of the money.
The court had earlier issued an interim forfeiture order on August 22, 2025, directing the EFCC to publish the notice and allow interested parties 14 days to show cause why the funds should not be permanently seized.
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In an affidavit presented by EFCC investigator Usman Aliyu, the commission said it acted on intelligence reports suggesting that Oceangate used suspicious funds to acquire oil blocks from the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission.
Aliyu stated that the $13 million was used to pay signature bonuses for PPL 302 and PPL 3007 and insisted that the money did not originate from legitimate business activities. He added that part of the funds allegedly came from money disbursed by a state government to contractors for public projects but was later diverted to Oceangate despite no formal contract.
The EFCC also questioned the credibility of Iliya Wakil, who filed an affidavit on behalf of the company, describing him as a nominal director without shares. According to the commission, Wakil is linked to another firm associated with Achimugu and does not earn a salary from Oceangate.
Aliyu further revealed that Wakil admitted acting on Achimugu’s instructions, passing directives to another individual.
He described the company as “a briefcase/shell company created as a vehicle for the purpose of holding petroleum related assets procured with funds reasonably suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activity”.
“Hence, describing the company as ‘a professional oil and gas consortium, operating in diverse sectors of the oil and gas sectors of the Nigerian economy,’ is nothing but describing the devil as an angel of light,” Aliyu said.
However, Oceangate had urged the court to dismiss the EFCC’s application, maintaining that the funds were derived partly from legitimate business operations and partly as gifts to Achimugu.
The court ultimately rejected the company’s defence and upheld the EFCC’s request for final forfeiture.