Court orders final forfeiture of N1.94bn assets linked to ex-accountant-general Nnabuoku
The Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the final forfeiture of assets and investments valued at about N1.94 billion linked to Chukwunyere Nnabuoku, former Acting Accountant-General of the Federation (AGoF), following his conviction for money laundering.
The Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the final forfeiture of assets and investments valued at about N1.94 billion linked to Chukwunyere Nnabuoku, former Acting Accountant-General of the Federation (AGoF), following his conviction for money laundering.
The order was made on Wednesday by Justice James Omotosho, who upheld an application filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), directing that the identified assets be permanently forfeited to the Federal Government.
Delivering the ruling, the judge held that forfeiture of assets derived from unlawful activities is a natural consequence of conviction in financial crime cases, citing established Supreme Court precedents.
Justice Omotosho dismissed arguments from the defence that a pending appeal should prevent forfeiture, stating that filing an appeal does not invalidate or suspend sentencing or its attendant consequences.
He likened forfeiture to sentencing, noting that both follow conviction and are necessary to ensure convicted persons do not continue to benefit from illicit proceeds.
“The essence is to ensure that the convict derives no further benefit from such properties,” the judge said, adding that the forfeiture order would stand regardless of the notice of appeal. The court also rejected claims of abuse of court process, holding that no evidence was presented to show that similar forfeiture proceedings had been instituted elsewhere against the same assets.
Consequently, the court ordered the permanent forfeiture of assets listed in Schedules 1, 2 and 3 of the EFCC application. The forfeited assets include cash holdings in multiple bank accounts belonging to various companies, a five-bedroom duplex located at No. 20 City Gate Estate, Kukwaba, Abuja, valued at ₦64 million, as well as stock investments in several listed companies on the Nigerian Exchange.
The stock portfolio includes holdings in Access Holdings, First Bank Holdings, Guaranty Trust Holding Company, UBA, Zenith Bank, Dangote Cement, Dangote Sugar Refinery, Cadbury, Nascon Allied Industries, and others, with a combined estimated value of about ₦1.94 billion as of March 29.
According to the EFCC, represented by its counsel, Ogechi Ujam, the assets were reasonably suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activity, while defence counsel Isodore Udenko did not oppose the court’s ruling.
The forfeiture follows an earlier judgment delivered on March 23, in which Nnabuoku was convicted on nine counts of money laundering and sentenced to 72 years imprisonment. The court, however, ordered that the sentences run concurrently.
The EFCC said the ruling reinforces ongoing efforts to ensure that proceeds of financial crimes are recovered and returned to the public treasury.
