The Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday granted the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) an interim forfeiture order for N30.7 million allegedly connected to fraudulent activities involving officials of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).
Justice Emeka Nwite, ruling on an ex parte application filed by the EFCC, held that the commission presented sufficient material to justify the temporary forfeiture of the funds to the Federal Government. The court ordered that a notice of the forfeiture be published in a national newspaper, allowing interested parties 14 days to show cause why the money should not be permanently forfeited. The matter was adjourned to January 22 for the EFCC to file a compliance report on the publication.
In a supporting affidavit, the EFCC stated that the funds were lodged in its Recovery Account with United Bank for Africa, under account number 9058700029, in the name of a manager’s cheque draft outstanding account, pending forfeiture.
The commission said the money was uncovered during investigations into alleged fraudulent activities involving some high-profile NNPCL officials, as well as other criminal petitions received by the agency. According to the EFCC, the name of Mr Adamu Yakubu, a Bureau De Change operator, featured prominently during the investigation.
Yakubu was invited for questioning on September 2, 2025, and he reportedly volunteered a statement and submitted a ledger detailing transactions, including customer information and records of dollar sales. Analysis of the ledger allegedly revealed that over N4 billion was transferred to various individuals and companies on the instruction of Mr Ibrahim Sani, a staff member of the Federal Inland Revenue Service.
The EFCC further stated that the N30.7 million sought to be forfeited represented a balance still in Yakubu’s possession from funds he claimed were given to him by Sani. Sani was invited for questioning on September 15, 2025, and reportedly admitted to using Yakubu to transfer money to different individuals and companies, while also confirming that he deposited large sums of money in dollars with the BDC operator for conversion and onward transfers.
According to the commission, Sani admitted that he neither verified nor ascertained the source of the funds, which the EFCC said were reasonably suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activities. However, Sani denied ownership of the N30.7 million found in Yakubu’s account, while both men disclaimed ownership of the funds.
The EFCC 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 allow law enforcement agencies to preserve suspected proceeds of crime while affected parties are given the opportunity to challenge the forfeiture before it becomes final.
